What's Left of Me
by othlvr16
Summary: Julian came to Tree Hill to start a movie. He never thought he would fall in love, but when his daughter comes to stay with him, can Brooke find a place in their little family or will she be left an outsider wanting in. Sam/Brooke/Julian in a new light.
1. Julian's Other Girl

**A/N: So, this is a new story that I've had in my mind for awhile. I was halfway done writing this chapter when othfan80 posted their story **_**The Stepmother**_**. I'm happy to say that this story is completely different from theirs at least I hope and if there are some similarities it's totally coincidental. **

**I don't think that chapters will be this long, but we will have to see. I had a hard time trying to file this because it involves a lot of people, but I think filing it under the usual would be okay.**

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Chapter One: Julian's other Girl

Julian Baker woke up to the sun shining in his eyes from the window in his hotel room. It was the first time in a few weeks that he had stayed there despite paying for it. He was too busy with Brooke Davis, fashion designer and his new girlfriend.

He met Brooke Davis when he came into town trying to sign off on a new movie. Julian was a producer. He came to Tree Hill to meet Lucas Scott, the author of _An Unkindness of Ravens_. A book Lucas wrote in his senior year of high school.

When he first came to Tree Hill the movie almost didn't happen because Lucas had found out that his fiancée Peyton Sawyer had a relationship with him a few years ago, but with a lot of convincing Lucas accepted to do the movie.

Hearing the sound of his alarm going off, Julian reaches over and shuts it off. He sits in bed and stretches. He pulls out his cell phone and sees a couple of new text messages waiting for him.

**Missed u last nite xoxo Brooke**

Julian smiles and deletes the message. He opens up his last message.

**I'll C U in a few days SammyB**

Julian responds to the text.

**I can't wait Princess**

After reading that the message was sent Julian puts his phone away and gets ready for his day.

**-WLOM-**

Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis settled down in Brooke's store. They had spent the morning around town just hanging out, but now it was time for serious talking. Something had been bothering Brooke lately.

"Peyton, you dated Julian in LA, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did he ever tell you about his past?"

At the mention of Julian's past, Peyton froze hoping Brooke didn't notice. Peyton did know about Julian's past. When she first started dating Julian she knew that his parents were divorced, but the more she found out about him the more surprised she found to be.

By hearing Brooke's question, Peyton realizes that Julian has neglected to tell Brooke about a certain brown haired, brown eyed girl. Turning to Brooke, Peyton finally answers.

"Eventually, he did yes."

Brooke bites the bottom of her lip.

"What is he hiding?"

Peyton shakes her head.

"I can't tell you that Brooke. It's his life."

"Peyton, is there another girl in his life?"

Peyton nods her head and Brooke looked mad. Peyton grabs her hand. "It's not for the reasons you think. Julian Baker is not cheating on you."

Brooke let's go of Peyton's hand and finally admits what she has been feeling for the last few weeks.

"I'm falling for him and I don't know how he feels about me."

"I'm pretty sure you are in his heart."

Brooke looks at Peyton hopefully.

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so," Brooke smiles at the statement. "If it helps, I can go talk to him for you."

Brooke smiles gratefully at her blonde haired best friend.

"That would be great."

**-WLOM-**

Julian hands over the current script to Lucas.

"It's really good Luke."

Lucas raises an eyebrow.

"Good, but not great?"

"Well it's one scene away from great actually and I think you know what scene that is."

Lucas nods his head in understanding.

"I know you wanted me to show it, but I think it would be better if the audience found out after the fact."

"Look, Lucas, I know this is close to you, but I'm telling you I can't bring this script to them without this scene. Every movie has a villain and Dan is yours. Figure out a way to write it."

"How am I supposed to write it when I wasn't there?"

Julian looked at Lucas with sympathy. Julian sits on the couch and Lucas follows him.

"What would you feel if it was Nathan standing in front of you with a gun pointed at you?"

Julian left that question for Lucas to mull over. When he walked outside of Lucas' house his phone signaled a text.

**We need to talk-Peyton**

Julian sighs and puts the phone away while getting into his car and driving off. Apparently Peyton needed to talk to him and he thinks he knows why.

**-WLOM-**

Julian walks into Peyton's office and he notices Peyton's stern look. Julian takes a seat in the chair and Peyton continues to look at him.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me Julian Baker. How come you neglected to tell Brooke about a vital piece of your life?"

"I'm afraid," Julian admits. "I'm afraid that Brooke will just leave like Melanie and you did."

Peyton sighs.

"Okay, one, I met Melanie and she was a bitch and two, I loved you, but I was _in _love with Lucas and three, Brooke will understand."

"How do you know? I mean I kept this from Brooke for over a month."

Peyton sets a hand down on Julian's bouncing knee.

"I know Brooke Davis and trust me, its better that you tell her now then later."

**-WLOM-**

Julian enters Brooke's home intent on telling Brooke his secret. Brooke was sitting on the couch nursing a glass of wine with her feet resting on the coffee table. Brooke looks up and sees Julian enter the house. When Julian smiles hesitantly at her she looks away. Julian sits down next to Brooke.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

Brooke sets her wine glass on the table. She turns to Julian and blurts out what was on her mind.

"Are you cheating on me?"

"No," Julian states hardly. He grabs Brooke's hand and kisses it. "I'd never cheat on you."

Brooke nods her head.

"Julian, there is something you're not telling me."

Julian nods his head and pulls his hand away.

"There is something I'm not telling you."

"Then tell me what it is?" Brooke pleads in a whisper.

Julian turns his head to Brooke.

"You do know I am thirty years old, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

Julian took a deep breath and let it out.

"When I was fifteen I had a daughter."

**-WLOM-**

In Los Angeles, thirty year old, Sara Bryce entered the school where her fifteen year old daughter, Samantha Baker, goes. She had received a call from the principal stating that she was needed immediately, so Sara had to leave work early and she wasn't happy about it.

Walking through the halls of Winston High brought back memories to Sara. This was where she met her first boyfriend, Julian Baker, at age fourteen. She remembered her years as a Mathlete and she remembered the nine months when she was pregnant.

When Sara enters the office she is surprised to see Katherine Breeze, her niece waiting there.

"Katherine, what are you doing?"

The blonde haired girl looks at her aunt.

"Waiting for my turn, Sam is in there now."

"You don't look hurt," Sara says as she examines Katherine's face. "What am I going to walk into in there?"

Katherine remains silent. The door to the principal's office is opened and an older woman walks out looking agitated. Soon a brown haired teen walks out holding a tissue up to her nose which was bleeding.

"Miss Bryce, you may come in."

Sara enters the office and spots her daughter sitting in a chair looking bored. Examining Sam's face from where she was Sara could tell that Sam was going to have a really good shiner in the next couple of days. Sara takes a seat next to her daughter who doesn't bother looking at her because she knows she's in trouble.

"Principal Stevens, whatever my daughter has done I apologize."

The older woman smiles slightly.

"Sara, relax. You aren't the one in trouble. You aren't in high school anymore."

Sara releases a small smile and then glances at her daughter.

"Samantha, are you going to tell me what happened or is Mrs. Stevens?"

Sam shrugs her shoulders in response.

"Please, tell me what happened, Mrs. Stevens."

Mrs. Stevens folds her hands on the top of her desk.

"From what I know your daughter appeared to get into an altercation with another student. Obviously punches were thrown. Sam's lucky she didn't break the other girl's nose though."

"She started it I was just finishing it," Sam mutters.

"I can finish you when I can get home," Sara retorts making Sam shut her mouth quickly. Sara returns her focus back to Mrs. Stevens. "So, considering this is the last day of school, what's going to happen exactly?"

"That's where I am at a standstill. I've never had something like this before, but I have decided since this is the last day of school and nothing was broken. I'm going to leave it up to you and your household. And Sam, I hope to never see you in this office again."

"Whatever," Sam mutters as she gets up from the chair and walks out of the office.

Sara puts her face in her hands and sighs.

"Sara, you've come a long way in fifteen years. I've seen you walk these halls through everything. You've done a good job with Sam when most wouldn't have taken the route that you did."

Sara stands up from her chair and smiles.

"Thanks Mrs. Stevens."

"You just go handle your daughter and please send in your niece."

"Will do."

**-WLOM-**

Sara and Sam walked into their two bed room home and Sam instantly took a seat on the couch at her mother's request. Sara walked into the kitchen to grab some ice for her daughter's eye. When she returned to the living room, Sara handed the ice to Sam and sat down next to her.

"Is there a story behind the punches or did you think that you could just hit her?"

"Mom, she called you a whore. I wasn't going to let it slide."

Sara sighs at Sam's protectiveness wondering if Sam had gotten it from her or Julian.

"Honey, you don't have to protect me. I realized back in high school that I was going to be talked about and even today when people say I am too young to have a fifteen year old I tell them the short version. I got knocked up in high school and chose to keep my baby, a decision that me and your father made together. Sweetie, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches…no pun intended."

"Mom?" Sam says as she pulls the ice away from her face.

Sara directs the ice back to Sam's eye.

"Keep that there."

"How in trouble am I in, exactly?"

"Considering you are only here for a few days not much, but your father will be a different story."

Sam sighs and leans back into the couch.

"He's worse than you," Sam complains.

"Well, I wasn't the one that gave a girl a bloody nose."

Sam groans and closes her good eye. Seeing her father in a few days was going to be bad. In Sara and Julian's parental roles, Julian was always bad cop, very rarely was he good cop.

"Don't look so down Samantha. You get to spend your summer in Tree Hill, North Carolina. Isn't that where Peyton's from?"

Sam nods her head.

"Yeah, I hope I'll get to see her."

Sara had liked Peyton after the way she saw Peyton treat her daughter. Just like everyone else, Sara hated Melanie, the girl that didn't like kids and all she wanted was a boy.

"I'm sure you will, but by the way I am going with you for a few days."

"Everything just got a lot worse," Sam mutters. She was going to be screwed when she enters Tree Hill, but seeing her dad for the first time in a few months will be worth the trouble at least for her.


	2. History

**A/N: I loved all your reviews for the first chapter…I'm glad you like it so far. Here is the next chapter and chapter three is being written. Enjoy please!**

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Chapter Two: History

Brooke stared at Julian in shock. As far as secrets go that was a pretty big one.

"You have a daughter?"

Julian nods his head.

"Yeah, she's fifteen."

After a few minutes of silence Brooke speaks.

"Where is she?"

Julian smiles, glad that Brooke was interested in hearing about his daughter.

"She's in LA with her mom, but she is coming in a few days to spend the summer with me."

Brooke nods her head.

"Can you tell me about your past and what lead you to here?"

Julian smiles and nods his head.

"I was fourteen when I met Sara, we were both Mathletes. She was my first girlfriend and I loved her. We had dated for about a year and decided to take the next step. We were young and we thought we were careful. We had protection, both of us did, but it didn't matter because a few months later Sara told me she was pregnant."

Julian collects himself and continues with his story.

"We were scared, but Sara was more scared. She has older sister who was 7 months pregnant at the time. Her sister was junior in college and she was married. Her parents um are kind of Christian like as in their beliefs ya know? Like no pre-marital sex and stuff. We broke the rules, but Sara had to tell her parents. I had to tell mine. The hardest thing that I ever had to do was to sit in front of her parents and tell them that I had gotten their daughter pregnant. I was so close to losing my daughter."

Julian wipes the tears away from his eyes and Brooke tries hard not to let hers fall. She had never seen Julian so emotional before.

"Her parents said abortion and Sara was so scared that she just sat frozen in her spot. They told me to get out, so I did. I went home and my mom was sitting on the couch. I had tears in my eyes and she asked me what was wrong. My dad wasn't there. It was just me and my mom and I tell her that I'm going to be a father and she pulled me down to sit next to her and she just held me while I cried. I knew she cried too even though she tried to hide it from me."

"Julian, wow."

Julian smiles through his tears. "I'm not finished yet."

Brooke nods her head and Julian continues.

"My mom asked me what was going to happen and I uttered the word abortion and she got angry. To make a very long situation short, my mom went to Sara's house told her to pack some of her things and she moved in with my mom and me. When Sara came into my room I told her that no matter what I was going to be there for her and since then that's what I've done."

"How long did you and Sara last?"

"Until our high school graduation, we are friends and everything, but I guess we just fell out of love. When we separated we decided to get joint custody of Sam and she was three at the time. We stayed in LA and we went to the same college. We didn't want to leave Sam. During high school my mom stayed with Sam. My dad didn't really do anything when he found out. He just told me I was stupid and I made a mistake," Julian shrugs his shoulders. "Anyway, Sam stays with Sara during the school year because I'm a producer and a movie doesn't last 9 months so Sam lives with Sara most of the time and Sam spends her summers with me. Sometimes holidays, but it's mostly summers."

"Thank-you for telling me Julian, but why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was afraid. I just I thought you might not like kids or you just didn't want to deal with that. I guess past relationships kind of proved me right."

"Peyton knows Sam?"

Julian nods his head.

"Yeah, she does, but the girl I was dating before Peyton didn't like Sam at all. She was kind of a bitch."

Brooke chuckles and walks over to her fridge to pick up a picture. She walks back to Julian and hands the picture to Julian.

"Her name was Angie and she stayed with me so that she could have surgery on her heart. Before her I was looking into adoption because at the time I wanted kids and I still do. I just had no other way. When Angie was fixed she went back home and I was sad for a long time, but then I met you and you made me feel better. I just hope that you'll let me meet your daughter."

Julian smiles and nods her head.

"I will it's just that Sam can have a hard time with new people. She was that way with Melanie and she was that way with Peyton. I have a feeling she will be that way with you. In truth the only woman she will listen to fully is her mom which is the way it should be."

Brooke nods her head in agreement.

"It should be that way. So, when is she coming?"

Julian smiles, "She's coming tomorrow."

"I can't wait to meet her."

"I can't wait for you to meet her."

**-WLOM-**

Sara walks into her daughter's room to see her packing her clothes. Over the years, Sam's room has changed every year. This year it was a light blue with Sam's writing written on the walls. There were very little posters except for the movie posters that her dad produced.

"Are you going to stare at my bedroom walls all night or are you going to help me pack?"

Sara looks away from the wall and pushes her daughter onto her bed.

"Why do you have such an attitude all the time?"

Sam shrugs her shoulders as she places a shirt in her suitcase.

"I don't want to be a wimp."

"Honey, you are anything but a wimp."

Sam smiles slightly and pushes her suitcase to the side. Sara knowing Sam wants to talk takes a seat on the bed next to her daughter.

"What's going through your mind sweetheart?"

"What are you going to do while I am gone?"

"I'll do what I do every summer. I'll keep busy. You have to spend time with your father there is nothing I can do about it."

Sam turns to her mom with a sigh.

"Dad's seeing someone again."

"So, what's the matter with that? Your dad deserves someone."

Sam looks at her mom sternly.

"You do too."

Sara smiles and leans down to kiss her daughter's forehead.

"Honey, I love that you're looking out for me, but I never saw myself as the dating type."

"Because of me," Sam concludes.

Sara shakes her head.

"No, I just chose not to."

Sam turns to her mother with a serious look.

"You don't have to sit out your life because of me, mom, I don't want that."

Sara wraps an arm around her daughter's shoulder.

"I know honey and I'm not. I have the occasional dates they just haven't gone into more."

Sam shrugs her shoulders.

"It's your life mom; you should have some fun once in awhile."

Sara smiles.

"Thanks kid, but we need to get you finished packing."

"Are you really coming with me this time?"

Sara smirks and nods her head.

"You bet your ass kid. Your father and I need to talk and we need to do it face to face."

"My life can't get any worse."

Sara stood up and laughed.

"Your life doesn't suck Samantha," Sara gives her daughter a pointed look. "In fact your life is pretty good compared to most people. And by the way, you have to hurry up with the packing or wait until later. We are having dinner at my sisters."

Sam smiles and nods her head.

**-WLOM-**

Ever since they were little, Sara and Kadyn Bryce were always close-well as close as any sisters can be being six years apart. Sara always went to Kadyn with her problems and Kadyn did everything she could to help. Kadyn was in her freshman year of college when she fell in love. His name was Jeffry Breeze. Their relationship grew fast and by sophomore year they were married, by junior year they were expecting their only child, a little girl.

Kadyn was seven months pregnant when Sara revealed to her that she was pregnant at three months. Kadyn didn't really know what to do. Her sister's problems were never that bad, but unlike their parents, Kadyn stayed by Sara's side. She helped Sara as much as she could for as long as she could. Kadyn even helped after she gave birth to her baby, Katherine Breeze.

15 years later and Kadyn and Sara are still close.

Sara and Sam make their way through the Breeze household. They stop when they hear words of an argument floating through the house.

"I don't get it Katherine. Explain to me why you thought it was necessary to get into a fight at school."

"It's not like I planned on it, but when someone is dissing our family, I'm going to do what is right."

Sara and Sam step into the living room where Katherine looked bored and Kadyn was pacing. Hearing her daughter's words, Kadyn stopped in front of her daughter.

"Did you just movie quote me?"

"One of my dad's actually," Sam says while making her presence known.

Kadyn turns around planning on yelling at her niece until she saw Sam's face.

"Oh, baby," Kadyn says as she hugs her niece tightly.

Sara walks over to Katherine and sits down next to her.

"I think she likes your daughter more than me," Katherine pouts.

"Stop that Katie," Kadyn says when she pulls away from Sam. "I rather not dwell on what happened today so let us just move on."

"I agree," Sam states as she plops down in a nearby chair.

Kadyn takes a seat next to her daughter.

"Sam, where will you be spending your summer this year?"

"Tree Hill, North Carolina," Sam responds with a smile.

"Isn't that Peyton's hometown?" Sam's aunt asks with interest. She always liked Peyton.

Sam nods her head.

"Yeah, and from some of the few e-mails I read I'll be attending a wedding this summer."

"It's not to Uncle Julian is it?" Katie asks.

For as long as anyone could remember, Julian was always Uncle Julian to Katie.

"No, Peyton is engaged to an old ex boyfriend, Lucas Scott."

"Nice."

"How has your dad been?"

"Busy with the movie and I think he's dating."

"Good for him," Kadyn comments. "Do you know who the mystery woman is?"

Sam shakes her head with a sigh. "No, but I'm sure I'll find out."

**-WLOM-**

A few hours later Sam and Sara made their way home. Their flight was in the morning and they hadn't finished packing yet.

"Our flight is at seven so be ready to go by six."

Sam stopped half-way up the stairs and turned around.

"Are you seriously going with me?"

Sara smiles and nods her head.

"Just for a few days, it won't be so bad Samantha. I have to talk to your father and it has to be face to face."

Sam sighs and nods her head.

"Alright, but I have to finish packing."

"You do that."

Sara smiles as she watches her daughter run up the stairs.


	3. Tree Hill

**A.N: I'm loving the reviews people so keep them coming. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

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Chapter Three: Tree Hill

Brooke grumbles when she feels her bed move. She opens one eye and sees her boyfriend getting dressed.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asks with grogginess.

Julian turns to Brooke and smiles.

"Sam's plane gets in an in hour. I have to go pick her up."

Brooke sits up in bed and holds the sheet to her chest.

"So, when am I going to meet this daughter of yours?" Brooke asks with a smile.

Julian slowly shuts his phone and frowns. He had taken out his phone after he had put on his pants.

"We will have lunch, but someone is going to join us."

Julian sits down on the bed. Brooke grew concerned.

"Julian, what is it?"

"Um, Sara is coming also. Just for a few days though."

"Does she normally do that?"

"No, but she needs to talk. She said it was serious and all of our serious conversations involved Sam."

Brooke rubs Julian's back comfortingly.

"I'm sure it isn't bad."

Julian turns to Brooke.

"That's what I told myself the first time, but then we figured out that Sam was sick."

"What was Sam sick with?"

"She had an Atrial Septal Defect which is a fancy word for saying a hole in the heart."

"I'm sure everything will be just fine."

**-WLOM-**

Julian is standing by the gates waiting impatiently for his daughter to get off of her plane. He was also nervous about seeing Sara again. He hadn't seen Sara in a few months, plus he was worried about what Sara had to talk to him about.

"Daddy!"

Julian looks up when he hears his daughter's voice. Sam runs into her dad's arms which were open wide. Sara picked up the bag her daughter dropped and walked over to her daughter and her daughter's father.

"God, it's so good to see you, Princess."

Julian puts his daughter back on the ground.

"Hello Julian," Sara says with a polite smile.

"Hi Sara, I hope you guys are hungry. I'm going to take you to lunch."

Both Sam and Sara nod their head.

"We have to get going. I hope you don't mind, but I invited a friend."

"Don't you mean your girlfriend?" Sam says with a smirk.

Julian turns to Sam with a pointed look.

"Yes and you will be nice and on the way to the restaurant you can tell me how you got that black eye."

Sam stops and frowns and Sara smiles.

"Come on sweetie."

**-WLOM-**

"Fighting of any kind is never good Samantha you know that," Julian scolds his daughter as they take a seat in their chairs. Sam sits down next to her mom and Julian takes a seat on the other side of the table.

"I know this dad. Mom already gave me the third degree."

Julian just raises an eyebrow causing Sam to stay silent.

"So, Julian, what is this girlfriend's name?" Sara asks with interest.

"Brooke Davis," Julian responds.

Sam's eyes widen in surprise and Sara seems to be in thought.

"Why does that name sound so familiar?" Sara asks out loud not noticing that Brooke had already made her way into the restaurant and walking up to their table.

"She created Clothes over Bro's and she happens to be Peyton's best friend."

"Wow everyone knows so much about me," Brooke says with a small smile.

Julian stands up and greets Brooke with a small kiss causing Sam to raise an eyebrow at them.

"Brooke, this is Sara and this is Sam," Julian says as he points to each person.

"It's nice to meet you two."

"Same here," Sara says with a smile causing Brooke to release the breath she was holding.

Sam just sits at the table not saying anything until Sara puts her hand on Sam's leg.

"It's nice to meet you," Sam responds.

Brooke sits down and soon the waitress comes to get everyone's orders. Once she leaves Brooke starts striking up a conversation.

"So, Sam, your dad hasn't really told me anything about you."

"Same here," Sam responds in a monotone voice.

After an awkward silence Sara speaks up.

"Brooke, I know that you run a major corporation, but when did all of that start?"

Brooke smiles thankfully.

"I started Clothes over Bro's in high school. At the time I only had a website and myself. Now I employee thousands of people and I love it. What do you do?"

"I'm a software consultant for an independent contractor. It's really not all that fun, but the pay is good so I'm thankful for that."

"Why is it called Clothes over Bro's?" Sam asks finally getting into the conversation.

"High school and boy troubles, I just had to focus on something else rather than boys."

The waitress comes over with the food and Sam is glad that she has other things that can occupy her time instead of getting to know Brooke.

**-WLOM-**

After a quiet lunch Sara had excused herself to leave for the bathroom as well as Julian, but Sam had known better. Her mom was going to talk to her dad about something and now she was stuck here with Brooke.

"What happened to your eye?" Brooke asks out of curiosity.

"I got into a fight. I'm badass," Sam responds.

"Right, what was the fight about?"

"Why do you care?"

"I care because you are Julian's daughter and he's a part of my life and I would like it if you were a part of mine as well."

"I don't even know you."

Brooke nods her head to the statement.

"That's true, but you didn't know Peyton either and you let her in."

Brooke smiles when Sam lets out a huff because she knows she's right.

"I don't need a mom. I already have one," Sam says sternly.

"I know and I'm not trying to be one to you. I just want us to be friends."

Sam nods her head slowly.

"I guess I can try that, but I can't make any promises because I already have a lot of friends."

**-WLOM-**

"It's not Sam's heart is it?" was the first question that flew out of Julian's mouth once Sara and he were alone.

"No, Julian her heart is fine at least that's what the cardiologist said last month."

Julian breathes a sigh of relief.

"Okay, if that's not it what's the problem?"

"My boss is the problem." Julian waits for Sara to continue. "I was called into his office yesterday and he told me that I have to travel or start traveling. I haven't traveled since I got the promotion last year. He informed me that starting next week I had to prepare to travel."

"So, you travel for the summer doing whatever you do. I don't understand."

"The travel is longer than three months Julian."

"How long is it?"

"Seven months minimum, but he told me if things go well it will most likely be a year."

"Seriously?"

Sara nods her head.

"I can fly home for a week every month which I will probably do, but the issue isn't my job, the issue is Sam. She obviously can't be at home for a year by herself."

Julian slowly nods his head.

"I can't put that on my sister either. She has Katie to deal with and Jeff has his new business. I can't do that."

"Sara, what exactly are you asking me to do?"

"How would you feel taking Sam for a year?"


	4. Work Related

**A/N: I totally forgot to publish this considering it is done. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I promise next chapter will be a little bit better…Review please!**

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Chapter Four: Work Related

"Let me get this straight, you want me to take Sam for an entire year."

Sara slowly nods her head.

"I don't exactly want you to, but I need my job. Julian, if you can't do this the only other option would be your mom." Sara looks at Julian's expression. Silvia was out of the question. "Exactly, so that leaves you. I know you have your job and everything, but is there a way to stay in the same place for a year?"

Julian looks over Sara's shoulder and spots his daughter smiling slightly at whatever Brooke was talking to her about. In truth, he never really had to think about Sara's proposition. He always wanted the opportunity to become more of dad then he has been and maybe now was that time.

"I'll do it. Although, I am currently staying in a hotel, but if I have Sam, I'll figure something out."

Sara smiles and hugs Julian.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

**-WLOM-**

"Peyton and I have been through a lot and there were times when we didn't speak." Brooke looks at Sam who was nodding her head. "But we managed and I'm glad that I had my best friend."

"I don't have a best friend, not really, not like you. Katie is mine, but she's my cousin. We are only a few months apart. I understand though."

Sam takes a sip of her drink and then stares Brooke down.

"How did you meet my dad?"

Brooke smiles slightly.

"Well, I first heard about him from Peyton, but I first met him at an USO show. He was trying to get the movie back from Lucas."

"What happened?" Sam asks in interest.

"Lucas had found out about your dad and Peyton."

Sam laughs and shakes her head.

"Is Peyton happy?" Sam says uncertainly.

Brooke smiles at Sam's thoughtfulness. She didn't know the extent of Sam and Peyton's relationship, but Brooke could tell that Sam loved her and hopefully it would be the same for her as well.

"She's very happy."

"That's good."

"What do you think your mom and dad are talking about?" Brooke asks as she glances in the back of the restaurant.

"Me mostly, that's really all they talk about, but right now my mom is asking my dad whether or not I can stay with him for a long time."

Brooke raises an eyebrow, "How long?"

"A year, my mom hasn't said anything, but I'm not stupid."

"I'm sure it will be okay Sam."

Sam bites the bottom of her lip and nods her head.

"I hope so."

**-WLOM-**

Sara and Julian walk back up to the table and sits back down.

"How is everything going over here? Are you behaving Samantha?" Sara asks in a motherly tone.

Sam just rolls her eyes.

"She's great," Brooke responds with a smile.

"That's good, but I think Sam and I should head to the hotel. There are things that I have to talk about with her."

Brooke catches Sam's eye and knew that Sam was right when they were talking.

"If you want you can take my care and I can catch a ride with Brooke," Julian puts in.

"I would love that," Sara says while holding her hands out for the keys.

Julian digs the keys out of his pocket and puts them in Sara's hands. Sam and Sara stand up and Sam starts talking.

"I want to drive mom."

Sara ignores the request at the moment and brings her attention to Brooke.

"It was nice meeting you."

"Same here."

"Come on Samantha."

"Mom, _please_ let me drive," Sam whines.

"Nope," Sara says quickly.

Julian shakes his head as he watches his ex and his daughter walk out of the restaurant. Julian sits down and turns his attention to Brooke.

"How was the small talk with Sam?"

"Very interesting, but it was good."

"I'm glad," Julian says with a smile.

"What were you and Sara discussing earlier?"

"It seems that I am going to have Sam a little longer than I thought I was."

"Oh really," Brooke says trying to sound surprised. "How long is longer?"

"About a year and I'm kind of scared about it."

"Why? I see you with Sam and you're great."

Julian sighs and shakes his head.

"I'm not the greatest father in the world Brooke. When Sam stays with me I spend most of my days working on the movie and a handful a days with Sam. Now I am going to have an entire year with my daughter as an opposed to three months."

Brooke grabs Julian's hand.

"I'm sure you can do it and if there is anything you need I'll be happy to help."

"Actually, I kind of need an apartment."

**-WLOM-**

Sara and Sam enter the hotel room with their suitcases in hand. Sam drops hers on the nearest bed and sits down.

"What do you have to talk to me about?"

Sara sits down besides her daughter and sighs.

"Something with work actually, I asked your father if he would be willing to take care of you for a year."

Sam nods her head and bites the bottom of her lip.

"What did he say?"

"He said yes, but I wanted to know what you think about the situation."

Sam shrugs her shoulders. "It is what it is. You have to work and I can't stay by myself, whatever."

"Alright, well you have to talk to your dad about a lot of this stuff. I'm leaving it up to him and you about where you will stay. You have the house keys so just figure it out. I'll be coming home about once every week and on holidays so you will see me and I'll call."

"You better keep that promise mom."

"I will."


	5. Moving In

**A/N: Here is the new chapter and since How to Save a Life is completed this story will be taking up its updating spot so until next week, Wednesday, I'll see you soon.**

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Chapter Five: Moving In

"I like your office," Sam says as soon as she walks into the room.

Peyton's eyes look over her computer at the familiar voice. She smiles and walks over to her.

"Sammy," Peyton says as she opens her arms.

Sam smiles and walks into Peyton's arms.

"It's good to see you Peyton."

"Same here, kiddo."

Sam takes a seat and Peyton follows.

"Not that I don't love having you here, but why are you here?"

"Dad's working and mom's having some one on one time with Brooke."

Peyton laughs, "I remember that one on one."

Sam nods her head.

"I've kept everyone informed on your e-mails. They are all happy for you Peyton."

"But what about you, Sam, how do you feel about it?"

Sam bites her bottom lip in hesitation.

"I really wanted you and my dad to work out, but as long as you're happy and my dad is happy then that's all that matters."

"Have you met Brooke yet?"

Sam nods her head.

"She's different, I have to say."

"I know that, but I've known Brooke since I was eight. She has a good heart. This is also the first time I've seen her like this."

Sam looks at Peyton and nods her head.

"Do you mean in love?"

Peyton nods her head.

"I see it on my dad's face as well. It's just different this time Peyton."

Peyton sits further up into her chair.

"What do you mean by that sweetie?"

"I feel like Brooke will be around forever and I don't know how to deal with that. I've never even been close to having a step mother. I just don't want to get close to her and then have her disappear on me."

"Sam you haven't lost me and you won't lose Brooke either. If anything, you'll get a great friend if Brooke and your dad don't work out."

**-WLOM- **

Brooke sits down in front of Sara. She had received a call last night from Sara about getting together for lunch before she had to leave. Brooke knew it wasn't about lunch.

"Let's just get right into it shall we?"

Sara looks up from her menu with a raised eyebrow. She sets the menu down with a smile.

"If you would like?"

"I like."

Sara nods her head.

"You are not Samantha's mother. You will never be Samantha's mother. I feel threatened. I had Sam when I was fifteen Brooke. I was just a child, but she's everything to me. You and Sam could have a really good relationship, but I can't lose my little girl. I won't."

"Sara, you don't have to worry about that. I could never replace you nor do I want to. I see the way you are with Sam and I'm the one that's jealous. My mother and I don't see eye to eye on things. My mom never wanted me, and my dad wanted a boy, so I would never want to take that away from you or Sam because I know how it feels is not to have it."

Sara bites the bottom of her lip.

"Thanks for saying all that. I feel less threatened, but I don't think that feeling is ever going to change. Did Julian tell you that I'll be gone for a year?"

"Sam did."

"Have you ever parented before?"

Brooke could only shake her head. Sara smiles.

"Good luck, you may not be her mother, but you are dating her father," Sara looks down at the ring on Brooke's finger on her left hand. "Or rather marrying Sam's father, so that will make you stepmom, parenthood is included."

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Brooke says as she looks down at the ring on her finger. "I've only known him for a short time."

Sara grabs Brooke's hand causing her to look up.

"Love comes at us blind, but if your with Julian and he makes your heart flutter a little more each day then you grab onto it and hold on tight because you don't know when it will come again, if ever."

Brooke squeezes Sara's hand and let's go.

"I really like you," Brooke says with a smile.

"I really like you, too," Sara responds. "Now let's eat."

**-WLOFM- **

"What's going on with you?" Peyton asks before she takes a drink of her coffee while walking down the street.

"I was in a fight on the last day of school," Sam says before taking a drink of her soda. Peyton had told her no coffee.

"Samantha!" Peyton scolds.

"Peyton, those kids were saying the crap again. I couldn't stand it. I was tired of walking down those hallways hearing about my mom be called a whore. Peyton it wasn't like that."

"I know sweetie, but you can't let that get you down."

Peyton and Sam sit down at a nearby bench.

"You should really talk to Brooke I think. Before Brooke found love she was lack for a better word a slut. It's all a mixture of things really, which is why you should sit down and talk to her sometime."

Sam nods her head before finishing her soda.

"Do you think Brooke is good for my dad?"

Peyton smiles, "Yeah, I do."

**-WLOM-**

"How was your day with Peyton?" Sara asks as Sam walks into the hotel room.

"It was good. You'll be happy to know that Peyton still has the motherly side on her," at Sara's raised eyebrow Sam explains further. "She scolded me for fighting."

Sara starts laughing causing Sam to roll her eyes.

"It's oh so funny," Sam sighs as she lies down on the bed. Sara lies down next to her daughter. Sam curls up next to her mother.

"I'm going to miss this," Sam says with a sigh as Sara runs her fingers through her daughter's hair.

"I'm going to miss these mother daughter cuddles for a year."

"Yeah, a year."

When Sam starts to feel tears form in her eyes she tightens her hold on her mother. Sara just holds tighter.

**-WLOM-**

"I haven't told Sam yet," Julian confesses to Brooke when he enters her store.

"Sara knows," Brooke confesses.

"Yeah, but she won't tell Sam, that's my job."

Julian walks closer to Brooke and kisses her on the lips.

"I also have a solution to your living situation."

"What is that" Julian asks.

"You and Sam should move in with me. You spent most of your time at my house before Sam came and I have an extra room, but you have to tell Sam about the engagement."

Julian nods his head.

"I will after I drop Sara off at the airport. She's leaving tonight."

"Do I have to prepare myself for any lash outs from Sam?"

"That's fifty-fifty at this point."

Brooke raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"Sam hates change. She hates it even more when it's fast changes."

"She won't hate me will she?" Brooke asks worriedly.

Julian shakes his head.

"She doesn't hate anyone. She just dislikes them…a lot."

"Well that's very reassuring," Brooke says sarcastically.

Julian shrugs his shoulders.

"She's a teenager, that's all I can say."

Brooke frowns at her fiancé.

"That doesn't help either."

Julian laughs and wraps his arms around Brooke.

"Sorry," he whispers into her hair.

**-WLOM-**

Sam pulls away from Sara and wipes at her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you."

Sara pushes her daughter's hair away from her face.

"I'll miss you, too, sweetheart. You be good for your dad and by extension Brooke, do you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Sam says with a smile. "Call me please."

"I will," Sara says before walking over to Julian and bringing him into a hug. "Take care of our daughter, do you hear me?"

Julian places a kiss on Sara's forehead.

"With my life," Julian responds.

Sara's plane was announced a few seconds later. Sara grabs her bag from Julian and turns back to her daughter.

"Be good sweetie and I'll pop in for a visit in a month."

"You better," Sam says with a grin.

Sam and Julian watch as Sara leaves. When Sara's figure disappears in the crows Sam turns to her father.

"Do you want to explain the ring?"

Julian's eyes widen in surprise.

"I found it while I was looking for your phone. Did you ask her yet?" Julian nods his head. "Did she say yes?" Again Julian nods and Sam smiles. "Congratulations dad. I'm happy for you."

Julian flings his arm around his daughter's shoulders as they walked out of the airport.

"I'm glad you said that because we're moving."

**-WLOM- **

Brooke flips on a light as Sam walks through the doorway.

"This is your room."

Sam sets her bag on the bed as Julian stands in the doorway next to Brooke.

"How do you like it?" Julian asks his daughter.

"It will do."

Julian grabs Brooke's hand.

"No boys," Julian and Brooke say in unison.

Sam nods her head and smiles.


	6. A New Friend

**A/N: Here is the next chapter of this story…I hope you all enjoy it.**

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Chapter Six: A New Friend

Sam walked out of the bathroom fully dressed and showered. Brooke was sitting in the kitchen sipping her coffee. Julian was at work so it just left Sam and Brooke to themselves.

"Good morning," Brooke greets when Sam enters the kitchen.

"Morning," Sam says softly. "Brooke, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Brooke says as she puts her coffee down and brings her attention to Sam.

"Is there anything to do in this town?"

Brooke laughs and nods her head.

"Yeah, there is tons of stuff to do."

Sam takes a seat on the stool next to Brooke.

"Like what?"

"Um I usually hang with my friends."

Sam just stares at Brooke.

"I don't have any friends here."

"Oh yeah…Sam, what do you usually do when you spend your summers with your dad?"

Sam shrugs her shoulders.

"He's usually working so I only see him about half the time I stay with him."

"That doesn't seem right," Brooke says with a frown.

"I'm used to it. I love my father, but I don't get to see him as often. I'm just really interested in seeing how this year is going to turn out. The sucky part is I have three months before school starts and I have no friends."

Brooke claps her hands together.

"Well then you are in luck because I would love some company this summer," Brooke says with a smile.

"Don't you have friends?" Sam questions.

"Of course I do, but I would really like to get to know my future step-daughter."

Sam smiles slightly.

"Okay, so what do you want to do?"

"Do you want to check out my store?" Brooke asks with a raised eyebrow.

**-WLOM- **

"Lucas, we have to pick a Peyton it's as simple as that," Julian says as he leans in his chair.

"I know, but nothing is ever going to compare."

"We both know that Lucas, no one can compare to you or Brooke or Haley or Nathan. That's the thing about movies sometimes it's not real."

"It's based on my life Julian."

Julian nods his head.

"I know this and I know it's hard, but pick the right actress for the part. I know you can do this Lucas. It doesn't have to be perfect."

Lucas looks down at the folders in front of him.

"We should go with Peyton number two. I think she's the closest to the real Peyton."

"I agree," Julian says as he closes the folders.

"I don't."

Lucas and Julian look towards the voice and automatically sigh.

"I liked Peyton number three," Reese says with a grin.

"That's because she said she would sleep with you," Julian questions.

Reese grins and nods his head.

"Reese your input doesn't really matter right now," Julian says with a sigh.

"Apparently your dad thinks otherwise."

Julian rolls his eyes at the mention of his father.

"Look we have to get stuff done today so I don't have a late night with my fiancé and daughter."

Lucas grins. "About that man, congratulations, Peyton told me last night."

"Thanks," Julian says respectively.

"Alright let's get this done," Lucas states effectively shutting up Reese and his comments.

**-WLOM- **

"Nicole, how is everything going?" Brooke says as she enters her store.

The young teenager looks up from the counter and smiles.

"Everything is going just fine Ms. Davis."

"Nicole, how many times do I have to tell you that it's Brooke?"

Nicole chuckles. "One more time I guess."

"Nicole this is my step-daughter Sam, Sam this is Nicole. She's sixteen and is currently as an employee of Clothes over Bro's."

Nicole walks out from behind the counter and walks over to Sam.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Alright girls," Brooke says as she goes to the door and flips the open sign to closed. "I saw we have some fun."

"Am I still getting paid for today?" the blonde haired teenager asks.

"Yes you are. Come on girlies, what shall we do with ourselves?"

"I have no idea what to do in this town. I told you that Brooke," Sam complains.

"It's okay Sam. I'll show you around this small town. It will be fun, trust me."

**-WLOM- **

Brooke, Nicole and Sam take a seat in the food court after walking around the mall for a couple of hours.

"What's your story?" Nicole asks Sam. "I haven't really heard about you from Brooke before today."

"That wasn't her fault. My dad just recently told her so…"

Nicole nods her head.

"So, are you going to school here than or what?"

Sam bites the bottom of her lip not knowing how to answer.

"We have three months to decide," Brooke finishes for Sam who smiles grateful at her.

"Cool."

Brooke stands up from the table and smiles.

"I'll go get us some food. You two just sit here and hangout."

"You're a California girl aren't you?" Nicole asks with a smile.

"Born and mostly raised. I spend my summers with my dad and for the school years I live with my mom."

"Doesn't that get tiring at all?"

"You get used to it. I barely see my dad so it's nice that I get three months with him."

"I know how it is. My parents are working parents so I barely see them. I needed a job and Brooke helped with that and now I love it. I'm not lonely anymore really."

"That's good. My parents are young actually. My mom had me when she was fifteen."

"Wow."

Brooke arrives back at the table with the food.

"Dig in guys."

**-WLOM- **

Later that night Julian and Brooke are lying down in bed, Brooke in Julian's arms.

"Sam said she had fun today," Julian mentions with a smile on her face.

"That's good, I had fun too. I introduced her to Nicole so hopefully they can hit it off and be friends."

"Thank-you Brooke, thank-you for everything."

"I didn't do much Julian. It didn't take that long for you and Sam to worm your way into my heart. I love you Julian."

"I love you Brooke."


	7. Just Like Dad

**A/N: Here is another chapter. It took awhile to write because I am out of some ideas. There are key events that I want to put into this story, but I need tons of Chapters to get there, but anyway, some fresh ideas would help.**

**Sorry about the late update. It should have been up yesterday.**

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Chapter Seven: Just like Dad

Brooke, Sam and Peyton were sitting in the Davis living room just shooting off stories. At the moment Peyton was telling Brooke about how she met Sam.

"I met Sam when I was twelve."

Brooke glances at Sam who just rolls her eyes.

"I have to know what Sam was like," Brooke says with a grin. "Come on tell me."

Sam groans.

"You don't want to know Brooke, trust me on this one," Sam says as she gets up from the couch and heads to the kitchen.

Brooke bounces in her seat.

"Now I have to know, what happened?"

Peyton smiles and starts her story.

"I had been dating Julian for a few months. He told me his history and asked if I wanted to meet his daughter. I told him I did and he set it up. We met at the park because Sara wanted to drop off Sam and when I first saw Sam I instantly knew why."

Sam sits down in a huff on the couch.

"This isn't fair you guys," Brooke says with a whine. "Tell me."

"12 year old Samantha Baker was wearing baggy pants, a t-shirt with skulls on it, black make-up, her eye shadow and eye liner with mascara. I was shocked."

Brooke laughs hard and Sam just shakes her head.

"How did Julian take it?" Brooke asks after her laughing subsides.

"Dad grounded me for two weeks, but after that day Peyton and I hung out all the time."

"Julian was working, wasn't he?" Brooke asks gently.

Sam looks at Brooke and nods before getting up and leaving the room and into her bedroom. Brooke brings her attention to Peyton when she hears Peyton sigh.

"He doesn't spend a lot of time with Sam does he?"

"Unfortunately no. Sam loves her daddy and Julian loves Sam. Sometimes his priorities are wrong."

"That has to change," Brooke mentions. "I wouldn't mind him doing that when we are married, but he Sam and it's not just for the summer. It's for the entire year. I know he loves his work, but his daughter has to come first. Sara spends all of her time with Sam, why doesn't Julian?"

Peyton throws her hands up in the air.

"Julian tries, he really does. He takes a day out of his week when Sam stays and they hang out together. Sam had spent most of her time with me. She just misses her dad, but she never complains."

"It's not fair on Sam. I never had my parents growing up. It's important for Sam to spend time with her father."

"Dad knows," Sam says as she enters the room again. "My grandpa was never there for daddy," Sam sits down on the couch and brings her feet up. "My grandma was the only one there really. My dad told my grandpa about the pregnancy and he called him a failure and I just think dad is still looking for his approval, an approval he may never get. I feel bad for him."

**-WLOM- **

"Well I'm glad that you finally found your Peyton," Paul says as he enters Tric and takes a seat next to Julian who was nursing a scotch.

Julian doesn't respond he just takes another sip.

"Are you going to ignore me now?" Paul asks after he orders a scotch himself.

"No Paul, I can't ever ignore you, you won't allow it."

"At least you did something right this time," Paul mentions nonchalantly.

Julian turns in his seat and glares at his father.

"Is that a dig at my daughter?"

Paul shakes his head.

"No I love my granddaughter, but what I don't love is the fact that her supposed father is sitting here in a bar drinking when he should be at home with his family."

"Like you would know anything about it."

"You're right I don't. I was never around. I was too busy working on movies. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, now does it?"

Paul places his cash on the bar top and leaves Julian alone to stir in his thoughts.

**-WLOM- **

Julian walks into his house and spots Brooke and Sam sitting on the couch staring at the TV. Julian catches what's on the TV and sighs.

"What are you two watching?"

"Project Runway, dad."

"Yeah Julian, Project Runway."

Julian shakes his head and sits in between his two girls.

"I talked to my dad today."

"What did Paul have to say?" Sam asks hesitantly.

"He mentioned to me that I was turning into him."

Brooke slowly gets up from the couch and heads out of the room thinking that this was an important talk between father and daughter. Julian turns to Sam.

"I don't want to be like my father. I know I haven't really been around while you stay with me, but I want to change that. From now on I have to change it. I'm really sorry Sampson."

Sam cuddles in close to her father.

"It's okay daddy, I know you're busy."

Julian wraps his arms around his daughter's.

"It's no excuse. I'm sorry."

**-WLOM- **

Julian walks into his bedroom and sees his fiancé sitting on the bed with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad someone got a hold of you because otherwise you would have been facing an argument with me."

Julian sighs and sits down next to Brooke.

"You noticed it before me didn't you?"

"It's easy for an outsider Julian. It's harder when you're in the mix."

"I'm going to fix it. I promised Sam and I'm going to fix it."

Brooke gives Julian a sweet kiss.

"Good."

**-WLOM-**

Sam flips up her phone when it rings and she smiles at the voice.

"_How'd it go?"_

"It worked and I thank you for what you did."

"_I just don't like history repeating. It's bad enough of what I thought about you before."_

"All that's changed now or at least I hope it will."

"_I hope so too Samantha."_

"Thanks again Grandpa."

"_Goodnight."_

"Night."

Sam shuts her phone and turns out her light with a smile on her face. Things were going to be different.

She was right about one thing. It was going to be different, but not for the reasons she thinks.


	8. Not so Good Day

**A/N: I really have no idea why I write these author's notes especially when I don't have anything to say, but I would like to tell you all that I have some big plans for this story and I'm hoping I can get a video up soon. I'll let you know when I do.**

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Chapter Eight: Not so Good Day

"Sam, wake up!"

Sam groans into her pillow.

"Sam, wake up now!" Julian whispers as he pokes Sam in the arm.

Sam groans and cracks open an eye.

"What do you want, dad?"

Julian grins and claps his hand together.

"I want you to get your skinny butt out of this bed and get ready to go because we are going to have some fun."

Sam sits up in bed and sighs.

"Just you and me?"

Julian nods his head.

"We can bring Brooke if you'd like."

Sam grins and nods her head. Julian leaves Sam's room and heads to the kitchen for some coffee. After Sam gets dressed she sees her dad in the kitchen, Brooke nowhere in sight.

"Where's Brooke?"

"You go wake her up," Julian suggests.

Sam grins and goes into her father's room and sees Brooke curled up in a ball. Sam leaps up onto the bed and starts bouncing it a little. She was having a child moment.

"Brooke, you have to get up."

Brooke yawns, opens her eyes and stares at Sam.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asks tiredly.

"You are coming with dad and me today."

"I am, am I?" Brooke asks as she sits up in bed.

"Yes you are now get up and get dressed."

Brooke laughs and heads into her bathroom to get ready for her day.

**-WLOM- **

"Dad, are you serious?" Sam asks as she looks around the arena.

Julian chuckles and places a hand on his daughter's shoulders.

"Yep, now let's go."

Brooke tugs on her fiancé's hand and shook her head.

"No, no, no Julian, I can't do this," Brooke pleads. "I'm no good with guns and they freak me out."

"Please Brooke," Sam says as she gives her puppy dog eyes. "Come play."

Brooke groans and follows Julian and Sam through the doors to get suited up.

**-WLOM- **

"Rules are simple, if you get hit with a pellet you are out. The game ends when one person is left standing. Play smart and enjoy your game," The referee says with a smile.

Brooke, Julian and Sam all decked out in their paint balling gear ran for cover. The referee blew his whistle and the game was started. Sam took place behind stacks of hay. Her gun was positioned close to her body.

"Come on Sammy, where are you?"

Sam grins when she hears her father's voice walking around in the open. Sam peers over her hay bale and her father is standing right in front of her, but before she can do anything Brooke stands in the way.

"Julian, don't shoot please," Brooke pleads with a smile as she holds the gun out in front of her. Julian draws his gun and points it at Brooke.

"And why would I do that. It's not part of the game, sweetie."

"Call a truce Julian please that way we can go after Sam."

Behind the hale bay Sam rolls her eyes and then smirks. She turns draws her gun and aims…at her father.

"Fine, I call a truce."

Sam shoots her gun.

"Brooke, you weren't supposed to shoot me."

"I didn't I swear."

Sam stands up from behind the hale bay and smirks.

"Sorry daddy, but you're out. Brooke, you better run."

Brooke turns around and pulls the trigger and Sam manages to dodge the pellet. She gets up on her feet and runs off except she gets hit right in the back. She turns around slowly and sees Brooke smirking at her.

"Never turn your back on the enemy."

Sam grins and starts shooting off her gun hitting Brooke and Brooke the same with Sam.

**-WLOM- **

"That was fun," Brooke says with a grin as she steps into the restaurant.

"Yeah, we know," Sam says with a sigh as she takes a seat in the booth.

"Sam, quit being a poor sport," Julian says with a laugh as he sits opposite of her and Brooke. "Let's just enjoy this meal and then go home, relax and watch a movie."

"I agree with that," Brooke states as she taps her fingers on the table.

The waiter comes and takes their orders and they sit and wait.

"So, how has the day been so far Sam?" Julian asks before he takes a sip of his soda.

"It's great. We haven't had this much fun in awhile. Thanks."

"Well it's about time I step up and be a father."

"Well you are doing fine."

Brooke just sat back and listened to Sam and Julian talk to each other. It was amazing to hear those two talk to each other. At times they sounded like the same person and it amazed Brooke all the time. She just hopes that one day when she has kids she would have that same bond with her children.

"What can I get you guys?"

**-WLOM- **

Brooke, Sam and Julian enter their house with their stomach's full and a couple of movies in hand. Sam takes a spot on the couch next to Julian while Brooke listens to her home messages.

"_Sorry we missed your call; if you were looking for Brooke, Julian or Sam, leave a message after the beep."_

"_Sam, go-o-d-d, I really wished you were there. Sweetie, it's me Kadyn. I have some bad news. I know it sucks, but I wish I would have gotten a hold of you…"_

Sam and Julian turn to the voice. Sam was worried and she gripping onto her father's arm. Brooke was looking at them worriedly.

"_Honey, I just got the call, your mom was in an accident. She's dead."_


	9. Our Next Move

**A/N: Alright so here is the new chapter and some of you had guessed what was going to happen so I guess I wasn't stealthy enough, but I needed it to happen.**

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Chapter Nine: Our Next Move

Sam hadn't moved from the couch. Julian hadn't moved either. Brooke stood there in shock. Julian watches as tears come to Sam's eyes and he knew he couldn't do anything about it. Sam gets up from the couch and walks right out the door.

"Samantha!" Julian yells after the door slams shut.

Brooke rushes to Julian's side when he falls to the ground. Julian couldn't walk. He didn't understand anything.

"Julian, are you okay?"

"I don't understand," Julian murmurs. "I don't understand."

"No one will," Brooke whispers to her fiancé. "But we have to find Sam."

"Why Sara?" Julian questions. "God I need to find my daughter."

"I'll call Peyton, maybe she can help."

Julian nods his head and wipes away his tears.

"She should know too, she knew Sara."

**-WLOM- **

Sam walks into Tric, or rather broke into Tric. It was still closed and a few hours before opening. After hearing about her mother Sam didn't know what to do. They were always close, and now they will never be close again because Sara is dead and Sam is still alive. It sucks.

Sam walks behind the bar and grabs copious amounts of alcohol bottles. She wasn't really a drinker, except for a beer or two at a party, but she really wanted to drown her sorrows. Who cares what everyone else thinks.

Bypassing the cups, Sam takes off the cap of her chosen drink, Jack Daniels and takes a big swig. After swallowing she coughs and drinks again. Sam walks over to the radio and turns it on and drinks again.

"I'm sorry, mommy," Sam whimpers before taking another drink letting it slide down her throat with ease. Sam closes her eyes and sits down.

**-WLOM- **

"That doesn't make sense," Peyton says as she sits down on the couch next to Julian. "How can she just be dead?"

"I don't know Peyton!" Julian yells harshly. "I'm sorry, it's just that I was only supposed to have Sam for the year and now, I don't know."

"Julian, are you seriously suggesting that you can't care for her for the next few years?" Brooke asks as she kneels down by him. "She is going to need her father. She's going to need you, big time. You are all she has left."

Peyton's phone rings and Brooke and Julian look at her. Peyton looks at the caller ID and frowns.

"Hello."

"_I've been dying inside, little by little, nowhere to go, but going out of my mind."_

Peyton hangs up the phone and stands up.

"I think I might know where Sam is, but I should go alone."

Julian and Brooke nod their heads.

"I'll bring her back, I promise."

**-WLOM- **

Peyton walks into Tric with a frown on her face. Getting the call from Sam was heartbreaking in itself. It was Sam's song, the song she listened to when things were rough and judging by the slurring that she had heard over the phone she knew Sam was drunk.

Peyton stands behind Sam and watches as she takes another drink. Peyton tightens her jaw and grabs the bottle before Sam can take another drink.

"Whad da hell," Sam slurs as she turns around. Sam squints her eyes and opens them wider. "Peyton," Sam says happily. Sam tries to make her way over to Peyton, but trips and falls. Peyton manages to grab her.

"What happened Sweetie?" Peyton whispers.

Sam wraps her arms around Peyton's neck and sighs.

"My mom's dead," Sam says clearly. The affects of the alcohol were starting to wear off.

"I know."

Peyton can feel the tears on her neck, clearly from Sam's eyes.

"Why?" Sam cries out. "Why my mom?"

Peyton drops the bottle on the ground and wraps her arms around Sam, bringing her closer and rocking her while Sam cries for the first time since hearing about her mother's death.

**-WLOM- **

Peyton walks into Sam's house with a sleeping Sam in her arms. Julian gets up from the couch as does Brooke.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's exhausted and she's drunk," Peyton says solemnly. Peyton places Sam into Julian's arms.

"I'm going to take her to bed," Julian announces.

Brooke turns her attention to Peyton.

"How'd you know where she was?"

"The phone call I got was from Sam. She's was singing, but it was bad because of the slurred response. Plus, she likes my office and she knew how to get alcohol. A locked door wasn't going to stop her."

Brooke sighs and leans her head against the back of the couch.

"What am I doing Peyton?"

Peyton looks at her friend in sadness.

"She's going to need you Brooke. She lost her mother. You were there for me when I lost mine and it did a world of good. Now you need to be there for her. She's your step-daughter. You're the only mother she has left."

Brooke nods her head.

**-WLOM- **

Julian places Sam down in her bed. He takes off her shoes and socks and covers her up. It didn't matter that it was the afternoon. He knew Sam needed rest.

"I'm so sorry baby," Julian says as he places the trash can next to his daughter's bed.

Julian goes into his daughter's bathroom and gets Sam a glass of water. He goes into her medicine cabinet and takes out a couple of Advil. He places them on the table next to his daughter's bed and quietly leaves the room.

Sam slowly opens her eyes enough to watch her dad leave the room. Sam closes her eyes again letting sleep come in.

**-WLOM- **

Julian walks into the living room just as the front door closes. Peyton had just left. Brooke looks at her fiancé and holds out her hand. Julian takes it and sits down next to Brooke.

"How is she doing?"

"She's still sleeping. It's going to be a rough couple of months Brooke, but I need you not to leave me because I don't think I can do this alone," Julian admits.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to marry you and I am going to help you and Sam get through this."

Brooke and Julian sit in silence until Brooke breaks it again.

"What's our next move?"

"We need to go to LA."


	10. No Answers

**A/N: More and more chapter coming your way. I'm trying to work on a trailer for this story, but I really have no idea what in the world I should put in it so maybe some of you can send me some ideas on how to go about it. Also, I need to work on the banner for this story so ideas on that would help tremendously as well.**

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Chapter Ten: No Answers

It was 2 AM when Sam woke up again. She had a horrible feeling in her stomach. She ran to the bathroom, lifted up the toilet seat and retched inside. She knew it was stupid to go off and get drunk, but could anyone blame her. She had just lost her mom and only one other person really knew what it felt like, Peyton. That was probably the only logical reason why Sam had called Peyton. At the moment she wished she would have just gone to her room and stayed there because this feeling sucked.

**-WLOM-**

It was 2 AM when Brooke walked out of her bedroom to grab some water from the fridge. Julian had been up all night talking with Sara's sister Kadyn about funeral arrangements and other things. Julian had also booked 4 seats to Los Angeles for the day after tomorrow, one for him, Sam and Brooke and one other one for Peyton, he figured Peyton would want to go.

Brooke knew the moment that Sam had received that phone call her world had changed. Instead of just being the step-mother to Sam, she was in a sense, going to be the only motherly figure that Sam had left in life. She honestly didn't know how to feel about that, but there really wasn't anything she could do at this point.

Dumping the rest of the water in the sink, Brooke made her way back to her bedroom, but stopped when she heard noises in the bathroom. Automatically she knew it was Sam. Gently she opened the door and found Sam resting her head back against the tub. Sam's eyes were drooping closed and her skin was pale white. Brooke knew from personal experience that Sam was now feeling the consequences of drunkenness.

Brooke walked inside and closed the door. She wasn't going to say anything to Sam at this point because she knew that no amount of words were going to make Sam feel better at this point, but she figured just being there would be enough for her and apparently it was because Sam moved her head to lay on Brooke's shoulder and instinctively Brooke's arm moved around Sam's back gently bringing her closer. Brooke rested her cheek against Sam's head and closed her eyes.

**-WLOM- **

Sam opens her eyes and lifts her head from Brooke's shoulders. Brooke was already awake by the time Sam lifts her head up so Sam felt kind of stupid, but Brooke doesn't think anything of it.

"How do you feel?" Brooke asks.

"Like a giant elephant is sitting on my head."

Brooke nods her head in understanding.

"Yep, that would do it, but I think you should go face the music with your father."

Sam groans and lies down on the floor.

"Is dad angry with me?"

"More worried than anything, but he has a right to be angry don't you think?"

"I know I was stupid."

"I'll give you a few minutes," Brooke says as she stands up and exits the bathroom. "Don't be too long."

Sam stands up and looks at herself in the mirror. She didn't look like herself and she didn't like that one bit. Undressing quickly, Sam turns on the shower and hops in letting the warm water run down her body.

**-WLOM- **

"You didn't come back to bed last night," Julian mentions as Brooke enters the kitchen. Julian had started the coffee so Brooke sat down on the stool and rested her head in her hand.

"I know. I spent the better part of the night with Sam in the bathroom, a job that you should have done."

"I've never had to do that before Brooke. Sam doesn't drink."

"But she did Julian and you should have been there not me. You might not have done that before, but now you're going to have to start. Sam doesn't have Sara anymore Julian. All she has is her father. Now start being that guy."

Julian nods his head and pours two cups of coffee. Sam slowly enters the kitchen and Julian just stares at her.

"You're grounded," Julian states firmly.

"Whatever," Sam mumbles. "My head hurts."

"Don't drink it wouldn't hurt so much," Julian says with a smirk. "The next time you drink you better be of legal age to do so or you will have hell to pay."

"I'm sorry."

"Honey, I know you're hurting, but you can't be destructive, it will only make it worse."

Sam bites the bottom of her lip.

"When's the funeral, daddy?"

"The day after tomorrow, I have flights to LA booked for tomorrow so we leave in the morning."

The front door opens with a knock and Peyton steps through with a small smile.

"Morning," Peyton yells on purpose. Sam groans and rests her head on the table.

"Peyton, what are you doing here?" Brooke asks with a smile as she rubs Sam's back.

"I just came here for Sam if that's alright with you two. I figured Sam and I could talk for awhile."

Julian nods his head along with Brooke.

"Alright Sammy, show me to your room."

Sam eventually gets up from her place by the counter and walks into her room with Peyton trailing behind her.

"What do you think they are going to talk about?" Julian asks Brooke.

"Peyton has the most experience losing mothers. It's another thing that Sam has in common with her."

**-WLOM- **

"Why did she have to die Peyton?" Sam asks as soon as they enter her room.

Peyton closes the door and goes to Sam's bed and lies down, Sam doing the same.

"I've asked myself that question more than once in my life Sam and I still haven't received an answer."

"It doesn't get any better does it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The pain in your heart, it never really goes away."

"No, it doesn't, but the pain goes away less and less each day. You'll never forget your mother Sam, but you have to embrace the life that you have left and be the woman that your mom would have wanted you to be. It's important that you do that. Continue to live for her. That's what she would want you to do."


	11. Talking with Kadyn

**A/N: New chapter for my readers. I loved this chapter, but next chapter is going to have a whole lot of drama…family members will make a visit. Brooke meets Julian's mom and dad. Kadyn's parent's make an appearance and cause problems with Julian and Sam.**

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Chapter Eleven: Talking with Kadyn

Julian, Brooke, Sam and Peyton got off of the plane and stepped foot into the airport. It didn't take long for Sam to spot her aunt or her cousin. She dropped her carryon bag by her feet and ran towards her aunt.

Kadyn's arms wrapped around Sam tightly.

"I am so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Sam whispers.

Sam pulls away and looks at her cousin. Katherine opens her arms and Sam walks into them. They stay hugging each other as Brooke, Peyton and Julian come forward.

"Hi Uncle Julian," Katie says with a sad smile.

"Hey Katie," Julian turns to Kadyn and frowns, "It's good to see you, but I wish it was under different circumstances."

"Same here. Hey Peyton."

Peyton waves her hand awkwardly.

"Come on, I'll drive you guys to Sara's. Then I can get to know Brooke a little bit."

**-WLOM-**

Sam and Katherine run upstairs to Sam's room when they enter Sara's house. Brooke, Julian, Kadyn and Peyton make their way into the kitchen. Kadyn starts the coffee.

"So, what happened?" Julian asks.

"They say that it was a hit and run. It was powerful enough to have Sara's car slam into the wall. She died on impact. How is Sam dealing with everything?"

"She called me drunk," Peyton says. "She looked so defeated, Kadyn it was bad."

Kadyn nods her head in understanding.

"Katie hasn't done anything that extreme, but she was asking about Sam for awhile after she found out. She had tried calling Sam, but Sam never answered."

Brooke stays silent through everything. She had felt so out of place, and she was. Kadyn hands Brooke a cup of coffee.

"We will have enough time to talk about Sara, but I would really like to know my niece's soon to be step mother."

Brooke bites the bottom of her lip nervously.

"What do you want to know?"

**-WLOM-**

"This sucks," Katie says as she walks around Sam's bedroom.

"Yeah, I just lost my mom and I can barely breathe," Sam looks up at Katie. "I think I'm staying in Tree Hill. My dad and Brooke are so in love. I don't know what to do Katie."

Katie walks over to her cousin and wraps her arms around her tightly.

"It will be okay. I believe that. You just have to take things a step at a time. And if you're relocating to Tree Hill you can guarantee that we're coming to visit."

Sam chuckles and pulls away from her cousin.

"I know, you're persistent, I'll give you that."

Katie takes a seat on Sam's bed.

"I really don't want to dwell on the fact that a family member is dead so let's talk about Brooke," Sam grins and shakes her head. "What's she like?"

"She's alright. She's good for my dad and I can talk to her. I was drunk a few days ago and I was in the bathroom for most of the night. I figured it would be my dad taking care of me, but it was Brooke. She just held me like mom did. She slept in that bathroom with me the whole night and when I woke up she didn't mention it and I was grateful for that. I like her."

Katie had just sat back and listened to Sam talk about Brooke in an honest to god way. For Brooke being a celebrity, Katie had figured Brooke was just a bitch, but from the way that Sam describes her it's the exact opposite.

"Damn, you're getting a great step-mom."

Sam nods her head with a little smile.

"She's the only mom I got left."

**-WLOM- **

"Can I be honest with everyone?" Brooke asks the group in the kitchen. At the nods of heads Brooke continued. "I don't know my place. Sara's gone when she was still here I'm just Julian's fiancé, Sam's soon to be step mom. But Sara is gone and I don't know what to do. I understand that Julian is her dad, I get that, I really do, but what am I supposed to do? I don't want to take Sara's place. I can't do that to her. I don't know what to do."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Julian asks.

Brooke shrugs her shoulders in response. She really didn't know why she didn't say anything before.

"Brooke, you don't have to worry about taking Sara's place in Sam's life. Just be you and everything will eventually fall into place."

"How can you be consoling me when your sister just died?"

Kadyn smiled gently and asked Peyton and Julian to leave Brooke and her alone for a few minutes.

"Okay, now I'm scared."

Kadyn laughed and took a seat next to Brooke.

"You don't have to be afraid. My sister was a great mother. When she had found out that she was pregnant, she was so scared. But she had made up her mind and said that she was going to be a mother, that she was keeping her child and ever since then she proved everyone wrong when they said she wasn't going to be a good mother. My sister proved everyone wrong, she was a great mother. It's unfortunate that she can't be one anymore, but my sister liked you, Brooke. She knew you were going to be a great presence in her daughter's life. Never forget that."

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A/N: I finished the banner for this story. I am so excited to see what you guys think. The link is here and will be posted on my profile so please check it out.

**http:/i353(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/r381/othlvr16/stories/whats_left_of_mejpg(dot)png**


	12. Trouble Keeps Coming

**A/N: Here is the new chapter…It only took me about a few hours, but it's done nonetheless. I hope you enjoy it.**

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Chapter Twelve: Trouble Keeps Coming

Everyone was gathered in the living room. Sara's funeral started in a few minutes so everyone was just waiting for the right time to leave. Sam was leaning against Katie while Julian was fixing his tie. Brooke, Kadyn and Peyton were sitting on the couch enjoying the silence.

A knock on the door made everyone turn towards it.

"I'll get it," Julian says as he places his tie into place.

Julian opens the door and is surprised by who is standing behind it.

"Mom, dad, what are you doing here?"

Paul Norris and Sylvia Baker stepped through the door.

"Julian, the mother of your daughter just died. We needed to be here for our family."

Sylvia spots Sam leaning against the window and rushes over to her.

"My baby, oh come here."

Sam snuggles into her grandmother's arms as Julian glances at his father. He was truly surprised to see him here considering he was never around.

"Dad, are you okay?" Julian asks as he sees Paul glance at his daughter. He could have sworn he saw tears start to form.

"I'm fine, we should get going."

Brooke walks over to Julian really unsure of herself.

"Those are your parents?"

"Yeah, I'll introduce you after."

**-WLOM-**

It was a small gathering at the gravesite. Sara had never socialized much in her life. Her life had only really consisted of her daughter. When news off her death hit, not many people knew of her which caused the small turnout. What surprised Kadyn the most was the older couple standing beyond the trees. She hadn't heard from them in years and she knew the reason why they were there wasn't going to be a good one. Kadyn held onto her daughter's hand tighter.

"Unto Almighty God we command the soul of our sister, Sara departed and we commit her body to the ground."

Julian watched the faces of his family members change drastically. He caught Kadyn's eye and she moved her head to the side. Julian spotted the two figures by the trees and he sighs. Brooke looks at him, but he just brings her closer to him.

"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure of certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Sam felt Peyton sniffle beside her and she leaned closer to her. She knew her father would be fine. He had Brooke, but Peyton had come for her and she enjoyed it. The comfort she received with Peyton by her side was enough to get her through this.

"At whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his own glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."

Sam wipes her eyes and she feels Peyton tighten her hold on her.

"The Lord be with you."

"And with thy spirit," Sam whispers before throwing a handful of dirt onto the casket.

**-WLOM-**

Alexander and Rebecca Bryce thought they had raised their kids' right. They gave them Christian values in hopes that they would grow up with the values instilled into them. All of that had changed the moment that their youngest told them she was pregnant. It all was thrown out the window. Not only had Sara had pre-marital sex, but she was expecting out of wedlock. The moment that abortion was mentioned was the moment they had lost their youngest forever.

They had lost Kadyn in the same right because Sara and Kadyn had always been close.

Now here they were many years later at their youngest funeral.

It wasn't hard to spot their oldest standing next to their granddaughter that they had never met. It was easy to spot Julian with his arm around some other girl. They also knew the exact moment they spotted their child's daughter.

It was time to take control of the situation.

**-WLOM-**

"Mom, dad this is my fiancée Brooke, Brooke this is Sylvia and Paul."

Brooke hugs Sylvia and nods her head at Paul.

"The timing for this sucks, but I just want you to know that I'm sorry for the loss."

"Did you know Sara?"

"Briefly, she and Sam had a wonderful relationship."

Sylvia smiles sadly.

"Yes, they did. Her life was taken too early."

Brooke, Julian and Sylvia watches as Paul makes his way over to Sam.

"He feels like he failed."

Julian looked at his mother in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"He feels like Sam should have at least had a complete set of grandparent's in her life. With Sara's family not caring at all, damn them, he realized that Sam never had a grandpa, a role in which he should have played."

"Mom, I understand all of that."

"I don't think you do."

**-WLOM-**

Sam was looking out the window in thought when she felt someone stand next to her. She turned her head and saw Paul standing next to her.

"I'm sorry."

Sam smiles slightly.

"I know, but thanks for saying it Paul."

"Samantha, I know I haven't been a huge part in your life. We've only seen each other on holidays, but I want you to know that I'm here for you. I wasn't always there for my son when he needed me, but I want you to know that you have me here and everyone else as well."

Sam turns to Paul and nods her head.

"It means a lot to hear you say that, but don't say it if you don't mean it. I just lost my mom and I'm moving across the damn country. I can't lose everything else."

"You won't have to."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," a deep voice says from behind them.

Sam and Paul turn around. Sam is confused, but Paul looks angry.

"Who the hell are you?"

"We're your grandparents."


	13. Guilt

**A/N: Wow, I actually managed another chapter. Thank god. I hope you like this chapter.**

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Chapter Thirteen: Guilt

"I've never met you before," Sam says as Paul stands a little closer to his granddaughter.

"But we want to get to know you honey. We think its best you come live with us. You've been through so much and we're going to help you get better."

Sam looks at the strangers with wide eyes. She knew they were her mother's parents, but it still freaked her out that they wanted to take her from her dad. Sam looks around the room and spots him talking quietly to Brooke and his mother oblivious to what is going on. Sam takes another look at her grandparents and runs across the room.

"Daddy!"

Knowing it was his daughter's voice Julian turns his head and is instantly engulfed by Sam who wraps her arms tightly around her father. Brooke rubs Sam's back comfortingly.

"Daddy, don't let them take me away, please!" Sam cries.

Everyone in the room looks at the scene in front of them and all try not to listen, but they couldn't help it. It was getting interesting.

Julian pulls his daughter away from his chest.

"Who princess? Who wants to take you away?"

"Hello Julian."

Julian looks over his daughter's shoulder and spots Alexander and Rebecca Bryce. He spots Kadyn slowly making her way over.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up here."

Julian was surprised at his mother's tone of voice.

"Hello to you to Sylvia, but I'm not here for pleasantries. Rebecca and I think its best that Sam comes to stay with us. She just lost her mother. It would be better for all."

"No, it would be better for you. Some way to relieve your guilt daddy, but it's not going to happen," Kadyn says as she stands next to Sam who was holding onto Brooke's hand. "Why'd you even show up here? You haven't spoken to Sara since she was fifteen," Kadyn says angrily.

Rebecca remains quiet through it all. It was her husband's job as head of the household to hold things together. She only looked at Sam who was beginning to get annoyed by everyone looking at her. Julian must have noticed.

"Brooke, can you take Sam and walk around or something? I want to deal with this."

"Of course, come on Sam."

Sam follows Brooke outside. When Julian turned back around he was surprised that Paul was standing close to Sylvia without actually fighting with her. It was a new development.

"Alexander, I'm not letting you take my daughter away from me. She's my daughter not yours, yours is dead."

"We are her grandparents Julian. You have to understand that," Alexander states firmly.

"Actually her grandparents are right there," Kadyn says as she points to Paul and Sylvia.

"Your daughter is right. I was there for Sara when you kicked her out. When you told her to get her baby aborted, I was there for her. I opened my home for her and I've watched Samantha grow up and I will continue to do so without you interfering. You feel guilty, I get that, but your problem now lands in the hands of god, not anyone in this room."

Alexander purses his lips and looks at Paul.

"What about you? I know you were never there for Julian. You weren't there for Sam either."

"That maybe, but what do you know about Sam? Do you know anything? I know that she has a mother that loved her until her last breath. I know that Sam will be taken care of because my son is a man that loves his daughter to death. And his fiancée will love his daughter as if she were her own," Paul knew everyone was staring at him in disbelief, but he didn't care. He was getting to Alexander and he knew it. "I know her favorite color is red despite her saying that her favorite color changes with her mood. I know she's not very good at Math. I know that she writes like no other. Did you know that when she seven she fell out of a tree and broke her arm?" Alexander shakes his head. "I didn't think so. I may not have been around as much as I would've liked, but I know more about Sam then you ever will and you have to live with that."

"Dad, I think it's time that you and mom should go. Leave Sam alone and deal with your own regrets like not talking to your daughters or your granddaughters. Just go," Kadyn whispers softly.

Alexander straightens his tie and turns around.

"Let's go Rebecca."

Rebecca follows her husband out the door.

Julian turns to his father with a smile.

"Thank you for that. How'd you know all of that?"

"I listened when you talked," Paul responds before walking away.

Sylvia smiles as he walks away.

"That's one of the reasons why I married him. He stood up for his family no matter what happens. And then I divorced him because he got on my nerves. I need a drink."

Julian shakes his head. His whole family was weird.

**-WLOM-**

"Do you think they are going to take me away?" Sam questions softly as she sits down in the grass. Brooke sits down next to her.

"Your dad wouldn't let that happen, Sam. You know that."

Sam nods her head with a smile.

"I know that. Thanks for coming Brooke. I mean it. I'm glad you and Peyton came."

"Of course sweetie, you're my family now and I will always protect my family."

"Like a mama bear with her cubs?"

Brooke smiles and nods her head.

"Something like that."

More minutes past before anybody spoke again.

"You make my dad happy."

Brooke smiles slightly.

"You make me happy too."

Brooke smiles even more.

"I'm glad, on both accounts."


	14. Who Am I?

**A/N: So, my author's notes tend to sound the exact same every time I write one. I guess I would just like to say that I love writing this story and even though I'm not as consistent with updating as I liked to be I do know that I will finish this eventually. I know I want this to finish with at least 40,000 words or thirty chapters whichever comes first.**

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Chapter Fourteen: Who am I?

"It's good to be home," Brooke says with a smile as she drops her bags on the floor in her living room.

Sam and Julian walked in front of her and Sam dropped down onto the couch. Since meeting her grandparents, Sam had really spoken a word. She was scared when she first saw them. She loved her daddy and they had threatened to take her away. She couldn't handle that.

Julian looks at his daughter sadly before sitting down next to her.

"You haven't talked in awhile. Is everything okay?"

"Stop bugging me!" Sam yells before getting off of the couch and stomping into her room and slamming her door shut.

"I'm a failure," Julian announces as Brooke sits down next to him. Brooke takes Julian's hand in comfort and forces him to look at her.

"Julian, what you just said is outrageous. I mean do you honestly believe that you are a failure?"

Julian looks at his fiancé with sad, tired eyes.

"My daughter won't talk to me. How else am I supposed to feel?"

Brooke laughs and kisses Julian softly on the lips.

"Julian, you have to realize that Sam is a teenager, a teenager who just lost her mom, met her grandparents and is dealing with a lot of changes happening at once. Give her time Julian. I think that's all she needs."

"You're very in-tune with what a teenage girl feels," Julian says with a grin.

"Well Mr. Baker, it wasn't long ago that I was a teenage girl myself."

**-WLOM-**

Sam lies back on her bed with a sigh. The past few weeks had been tough on her. She knew her dad was trying and she knew Brooke was trying, but it still didn't help the fact that her mother was gone and she was never coming back. Sam picks up her phone from her table when it vibrates.

**U want 2 hang? –N**

Sam smiles at Nicole's text and responds back.

**Sure meet me store –Sam**

Sam shuts her phone. She could hear her father talking to Brooke so she decides to climb out her window.

**-WLOM- **

"Julian, I think we should post pone planning the wedding," Brooke announces as she gets up from the couch and enters the kitchen where Julian is making dinner.

Julian stops what he is doing and looks up at Brooke.

"Are you having second thoughts?"

Brooke shakes her head quickly before taking a seat on the stool. She trails her finger on the counter top.

"No, nothing like that, I just think with everything that's going that maybe it would be best if we waited."

"Are you sure?" Julian asks hoping that maybe Brooke wasn't sure. He really wanted to marry Brooke. "If this is about Sam, I could talk to her."

"I love you and I love Sam, but I don't want to change her whole life. I mean she's been with us for a month and already her mom died and now I think it's finally settling in that she will be in Tree Hill for a long time."

Julian starts chopping vegetables while Brooke continues to talk.

"Which reminds me, school starts up in less than two months and we have to get Sam registered at Tree Hill High and then we'll go from there."

Julian places the knife on the table and faces Brooke.

"So, if you have thought about postponing the wedding plans, then do you have any idea when you want the wedding?"

Brooke bites her lip as she thinks about Julian's question. She knew she didn't want to wait so long to become Mrs. Baker, but she was also taking Sam's feelings into consideration which at times could be extremely hard thing to do.

"Less than a year for sure, but I was thinking maybe at some point after the summer. It just depends on how Sam thinks of it."

"Brooke this isn't about Sam. I don't want to sound harsh, but I want you to come up with a decision without thinking about my daughter," Brooke glares at Julian in disbelief. "I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't about my daughter. This is about you and what you want."

Brooke gets up from her stool and places her hands on her hips.

"No offense. If I don't take Sam's feelings into consideration who is? Because from where I'm standing it sounds like you won't."

Brooke walks away in a huff and Julian just stares at her.

"Offense taken."

**-WLOM-**

"That's rough Sam, I'm sorry," Nicole apologizes as she settles against the back of the counter.

"You don't have to apologize. I know my life sucks right now. I'm sorry if I sound so depressing. This really isn't me."

Nicole looks at her new friend in sadness. After hearing her story it made Nicole like Sam even more.

"I'm sure people have said this to you, but I want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, someone that isn't an adult or a family member, than know that I'm here. I'm your friend Sam and I just want you to know that I'm here for you. Always."

"I've never really had friends before," Sam replies honestly. "I was always close to my cousin. We grew up together you know?" Nicole nods her head with a small smile. "In school I was always known as the kid from a teenage pregnancy. I was an outcast and I fought a lot and now everything is different and I don't know what to do. I don't know who I am anymore," Sam cries out as she places her head in her hands.

Nicole wraps her arms around her new friend comforting her in any way possible.


	15. It Helps to Talk

**A/N: Wow, it's late. So sorry, I got caught up watching Unstoppable and Vampires Suck, my bad. Anyways, I have the next update. Stay tuned for the other author's note at the end of the chapter. It's super important.**

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Chapter Fifteen: It Helps to Talk

"I think I should get home."

Nicole looks at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure you are ready for that?"

Sam hands her phone over to Nicole.

"They've been calling me non-stop. I never actually told them that I was leaving. I'm sure I'm in trouble."

"All you can do is face the music and hopefully everything will be okay."

Sam stands up from the floor and stretches.

"Thanks for talking to me Nicole. It's helped a lot."

"It's not a problem, but I'm sure if you talked to Brooke that maybe you'll find answers to your questions. Whether you want to believe it or not, you're a lot like Brooke. She's the person you want to talk to."

Sam bites her lip in hesitation. Everyone had kept telling her that. Maybe everyone had a point. Maybe she did need to talk to Brooke.

"I'll call you later."

Nicole smiles. "I'll close up," Nicole says as she digs out her keys.

Sam walks out the door and heads home.

**-WLOM-**

"…Thanks anyway, Peyton. Julian or I will call you if when know anything…I will, bye."

"It sounds like Peyton doesn't know where she is either."

Brooke slams the phone down on her console and sighs.

"No, she hasn't and now I'm just pissed," Brooke turns to Julian with a serious thought. "I think we should nail her window shut."

"Brooke, she's just dealing with some stuff right now. It will get better."

"What if she doesn't Julian? Can someone really get over the death of their mother?"

"I don't know. I've never lost mine."

Brooke and Julian were too engrossed in their conversation to hear the front door open and close. Sam came in and just stood there listening to them.

"I haven't lost mine either Julian. But I never really had one to begin with."

"But I lost mine."

Brooke and Julian's heads turn towards the front door as Sam steps forward more.

"I don't know if I'll ever be okay. I didn't just lose my mom," Sam wipes away a few tears as she takes a breath. "I lost my best friend. I lost the one person that I could talk to about anything and she wouldn't be mad at least not at first." Julian gets up from his seat and stands next to Brooke. Tears were in everyone's eyes. "I don't wish this on anybody, but you don't know what it's like. Yeah, you're parents weren't there all the time, but they were still alive. Mine won't ever be again and I don't know how to handle that." Sam cries out. "I just don't know how."

Brooke and Julian walk over to Sam and bring her into a hug. Sam grabs onto Brooke's hand as she seeks comfort in her father. She didn't want Brooke to feel so out of place in this situation which she was sure that maybe Brooke was.

"Sam, I know someone who has been where you are right now. Normally I would say Peyton, but she was never really close to her mom as you are to yours. My friend Haley lost her mom and she was close to her. I think it's time for you to meet her."

"After you tell us where you were, Brooke went into your room and you weren't there," Julian adds in a serious tone which Sam knew was his professional one. He meant business.

"I was talking to Nicole. I know I shouldn't have left like I did and I apologize for that. I'm sorry."

Brooke lets go of Sam's hand and brings her into a hug of her own.

"You scared me. Don't ever do that again."

Sam pulls away and blushes.

"I won't."

**-WLOM-**

"I have to be honest. I don't really know much about you."

Brooke had dropped Sam off at Haley's a few minutes ago. Haley had said she had no problem talking to Sam about her own mother's death. She was just glad to have finally met her.

"My dad doesn't really like talking about his personal life."

Haley nods her head in understanding. She was moving around in the kitchen getting lunch ready for them. Jamie was away with his father for the day while Julian and Brooke had some alone time.

"How about you? Do you like to talk about yourself?"

Sam chuckles and shakes her head.

"No, I'm not Brooke," Haley laughs at that. "I haven't been really good at talking. I'm writer not a talker."

"Tree Hill loves writers."

Sam knew she was referring to Lucas.

"Writing was always my escape and now I just don't have the will to write anymore. My mom is gone and she was my biggest fan, next to my dad, I just don't get it."

Haley hands Sam a grilled cheese sandwich. Sam digs into it quickly.

"When my mom died, I was a mess. I close to her. I was the youngest of her many children and even though I knew it was coming, it still didn't help me," Haley takes a sip of her water and then continues. "I fell into a deep depression. My own son couldn't get me out of it. Talking helped, as did getting my frustrations out, but what helped most was time and time is long. I can tell you that you won't ever get over your mother's death Sam, but it gets better with time. The pain that you feel only can heal by living."

Sam continues to eat her lunch with Haley glancing at her every once in awhile. When Sam was done she smiled politely at Haley.

"Thank-you."

"It's my pleasure."

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A/N: So, here is the all important author's note that I was talking about earlier.

**Somewhere in this chapter I included a lyric from a song entitled Something to Sing About from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Once More with Feeling episode. The readers that can point out which Lyric it is will get to do something special. They will get to pick what happens next. It can be big or it can be small. It can deal with relationships or anything at all, just not another character death because those kind of kick my ass.**

**Find me a lyric (the correct one) and tell me what you want to see happen next or at some point in this story.**

**Hint: the lyric is ten words.**

**Happy Hunting!**


	16. Flirting with Disaster

**A/N: so, jb and Ellen were the ones that actually answered my author's note so their ideas are coming up quickly in this chapter, in fact it starts in this chapter…Hope it works for you guys.**

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Chapter Sixteen: Flirting with Disaster

"I had fun with Sam a few days ago Brooke," Haley says as she accepts Brooke's offer of coffee.

"I'm glad. I knew that you would be able to help her."

"I'm glad you thought about me. That girl is something else."

Brooke smiles kindly as she takes a seat. She was happy that Haley liked Sam. It just meant that Sam would have another person to talk to when she needed to talk to someone.

"Don't I know it? I don't know what you two talked about, but she's changed recently. She seems less sad, so thank you Hales."

Haley purses her lips, but nods her head nonetheless.

Haley could understand what Sam was going through. She loved her mom greatly and when she lost her to cancer, Haley didn't know what to do. It was like her whole world had fallen apart, but eventually it had gotten better.

"I just told her my experiences Brooke. I told her the truth."

"It's the truth that I don't know Haley. I've never lost my mother, not like that."

"Well I hope you never have to go through that."

Brooke nods her head in agreement.

**-WLOM-**

"Okay, so tell me everything you know about Tree Hill High!"

Nicole and Sam were at the food court in Tree Hill mall. Sam was happy to get away from the house. Her dad had left early in the morning to head back to LA to meet with some executive types about making another movie so he left Sam with Brooke. Brooke had let her hang with Nicole and she was happy, extremely happy to have a friend.

"Basically, it's all about the drama. I mean even in this generation it's about the drama. Have you heard the stories that Brooke and the gang went through while they were in high school?"

Sam shakes her head.

"No, not really, I mean I read An Unkindness of Ravens, but mostly it was about Peyton and Brooke and how Lucas loved them both at one time or whatever. It didn't go into extreme detail though. What have you heard?"

"Well the things that stick out the most were the school shooting. Peyton was stuck in the library bleeding in her leg. Nathan and Haley were like hostages in the Tutor center. Brooke was fine, but all her friends were in the school. Peyton had a stalker, Nathan and Haley's teen pregnancy."

"They've been through a lot," Sam mentions. "I don't think my dad ever had to go through stuff like that. All he had in common was Nathan and Haley's teen pregnancy, obviously."

Nicole pats Sam's hand giving her some comfort, but her eyes were trained somewhere else. The guy at the next table couldn't help, but smile at her. He was tall with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was dressed casually and his eyes were trained on Sam.

"Don't look now, but the guy next to us is totally checking you out."

Sam didn't listen. She turned her head and the guy smirks at her. Sam blushes and looks away quickly.

"Oh my god, he's gorgeous."

"I know," Nicole whispers as she sees the guy stand up from his table and start walking to theirs.

"Excuse me? Would you mind if I sat here?"

"No, go for it," Nicole says quickly.

"My name is Logan."

"I'm Nicole and this is my best friend Sam."

"It's nice to meet you Sam," Logan says with a smile.

Sam blushes, but responds.

"It's nice to meet you, too."

Nicole smiles slightly because she knows she's being ignored.

"Well, look at the time, I have to go, but Logan hopefully you can keep my friend entertained."

"Sure," Logan states never taking his eyes off of Sam.

Nicole shakes her head as she walks away from the table. This was going to get interesting.

**-WLOM-**

"So, I've never seen you around before."

Sam's nerves went down a lot as she began talking to Logan. She could tell he was a nice guy…so far.

"I'm not much of a social person."

"Unbelievable, a pretty girl like yourself has to have gotten asked out before, am I right?"

Sam smirks. Logan apparently was a flirter, but Sam could take it. She would just flirt back.

"No one held my interest."

"What about me?"

"Maybe," Sam says slyly. "Why are you here?"

"My friends ditched me for their girlfriends. But its okay, I'm used to it."

"I'm sure I'll see you around her sometime."

"Maybe."

"What school do you go to?"

"I'm currently taking classes at Tree Hill community college at the moment. I just finished my associate's degree."

Sam looks at Logan in surprise. So Logan was older than her, by a considerable amount of years. But at the moment she really didn't care.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty," Logan states with a smile. "You've got to be nineteen, twenty, yourself, am I right?"

Sam bites her lip in hesitation.

"If you say so."

Logan smiles and nods his head.

"I like you."

"I like you, too."

Sam had no idea how she was going to get out of this lie, but she didn't care. She really liked Logan. She wasn't going to let him go just yet.

**-WLOM-**

"How was the mall with Nicole?"

Sam looks up at Brooke with a smile on her face.

"It was better than expected to be honest."

"Well that's good."

Sam nods her head and sighs as she sits down on the couch.

"It's nice to be home though."

"That's good. So, I was thinking with your father gone we could order in some pizza and pop in a couple of movies, what do you think?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

Brooke smiles happily. She and Sam were getting along quite nicely.

"Alright, I'll just go call in. Pepperoni and sausage, okay?"

"Yeah, that's great."

Brooke chuckles and makes her way into the bedroom with the phone.

In the living room Sam looks down at her phone with a smile on her face. Her screen saver was a picture of her and Logan. When her phone beeped she looked at her latest text.

**Had gr8 time today. CU soon xxx-Logan**

_Yep, I'm not letting him go yet. _Sam thinks to herself.


	17. There's No Point in Lying

**A/N: My mind has just been all over the place for the past few weeks and I apologize for that, but I managed a new chapter…and I hope it's to peoples liking.**

**I would also like to promote my new story Satan's Hitchhiker (Formally known as Broken Time) written by me, othlvr16 and my best friend peyton13sawyer.**

**You can find the link to the story on my profile along with the link to our shared profile… ****sawyer . james16 (there are no spaces)**

**Please, please, please check it out my loyal readers….please!**

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**Chapter Seventeen: There's No Point in Lying**

"I'm glad that you agreed to go out with me," Logan says as he and Sam walk around town. "I really like you Sam."

"Logan, we have been seeing each other for a few weeks. Plus I had nothing better to do."

Logan faked hurt.

"That was a bullet to the heart," Logan and Sam laughed. "But seriously…this summer has been turning out amazing."

Logan grabbed Sam's hand and interlaced their fingers together.

"Logan, if I'm being honest, all this is really new to me. I haven't really had a relationship before."

"Well I'm honored I can be your first boyfriend."

Sam stops walking and Logan turns to her.

"Boyfriend?"

Logan slowly nods his head.

"I'm sorry, was that wrong to say. I mean if you don't like it, it's okay, but…"

Sam laughs and Logan looks at Sam with a blushing smile.

"It's fine. I like the sound of that. Boyfriend," Sam started walking and dragged Logan with her. "Come on boyfriend, you can pay for my ice cream."

Logan smiled as he followed Sam. There was just something about this girl that he-dare he say-loved.

**-WLOM- **

Brooke was sitting down in the kitchen at Peyton's house enjoying coffee with her best friend.

"How has everything been going now that Julian is away?"

Brooke smiles at her friend.

"Everything has been going okay. Sam and I don't fight which is good. To be honest I haven't really seen much of her these past few weeks."

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Yeah, she says she's hanging with Nicole."

Peyton looks at Brooke before glancing away. Brooke caught the movement.

"Do you know something that I don't Peyton?"

"Sam's not hanging out with Nicole, Brooke."

"What do you mean?"

"I just talked to Nicole on the phone. Her dad wanted to listen to some new artists and since I'm music gale, Nicole called me."

Brooke listens to her friend in shock. Sam had lied to her. She didn't think Sam would lie to her ever. Julian had said that Sam wasn't a liar at last not with him.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well you have two options."

Brooke raises an eyebrow.

"And what two options are those?"

"You could call Julian or you can finally be the parental figure in Sam's life, a parental figure that Sam needs right now especially with her father gone."

"Peyton, her mother just died."

"Brooke, you have to quit using that as an excuse to not parent Samantha. You are getting married to Julian. Sam is your step daughter. You're the only mother she has left."

"What if I fail like my mother did?"

Peyton looks at Brooke with understanding. She knew Victoria was never a real mother and it hurt Peyton to see her friend question whether or not she could be a mother herself. She knew she had to reassure Brooke the best that she could.

"You are going to be a great mother, because of what you just told me. You are worried that you are going to fail. You care Brooke and that's more than Victoria could ever say."

Brooke nods her head and sighs as she thinks about what to do with Sam. She knew deep down that Peyton was right, if she didn't put her foot down now, Sam would walk all over her in the future and she can't have that.

**-WLOM- **

"Tell me more about you."

Sam looks at Logan after she takes a bite of her pizza. She was worried that Logan was asking so many questions because when she had first met Logan she lied about her age. She just had to make sure that Logan won't figure it out.

"There really isn't much to tell."

Logan smiles genuinely at Sam.

"You don't have to be coy Sam. I really want to know."

Sam smiles shyly, but nods her head in the same.

"I lost my mom."

Logan looks sadly at Sam.

"I'm sorry, when did it happen?"

"A few weeks ago actually."

Logan's eyes widen in surprise.

"Wow, that's, wow."

"I know, but I'm dealing with it and being with you makes it better."

Logan takes a sip of his soda and smiles at his girlfriend.

"What else can you tell me?"

"I don't have any siblings. I live at home. My dad is getting married for the first time in his life."

Sam watches as Logan's eyebrows furrow.

"But your mom…"

"They were never married. They had me in high school and their relationship kind of just died after that, but they were friends up until my mother's death."

"Again, I'm sorry Sam. I don't know what I would do if I lost my mother."

"I didn't either and to be honest I thought I would fly off the handle or something, but I haven't and I'm wondering if I will."

"Everyone grieves differently maybe being surrounded by people is how you grieve."

Sam smiles at Logan and nods her head as she picks up her slice of pizza from her plate.

**-WLOM- **

Brooke returns to an empty home, meaning that Sam was still out doing god knows what. Brooke sighs and places her car keys on the table.

Her whole drive home, Brooke was trying to figure out what punishment to give Sam for lying to her.

The sound of the phone ringing brought Brooke away from her thoughts. Brooke answers it.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Brooke, how is everything going?"_

Brooke smiles as she hears her fiancé's voice. She really missed him.

"Um, everything is fine."

"_Brooke, you don't sound so sure about that."_

Brooke takes a seat on the couch and sighs into the phone. She didn't want to worry Julian, but she knew he needed to know what was going on.

"Sam's been lying to me."

"_How do you know?"_

"It's a long story, but I know she's lying. I just don't know what to do about it."

"_Do whatever you think is best. Sam needs to know the rules and she needs to follow them regardless if I'm there or not."_

"Alright, I will. I'll have her call you after okay?"

"_Alright, I love you, Brooke."_

"I love you, too, Julian."

Brooke hangs up the phone and waits for a soon to be in trouble teenager.


	18. More Lies

**A/N: I seriously have to apologize for getting this chapter up so late. I've been incredibly busy and have just had no time to write for this story particularly. I sort have lost interest, but that doesn't mean that I won't finish this story. It may just mean that I end it soon…who knows though. **

**Here is the next chapter…I hope you enjoy!**

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**Chapter Eighteen: More Lies**

Sam walked into the house with a smile on her face. Her date with Logan was amazing. They didn't kiss, but it didn't matter because for the first time in a long time, Sam felt fine. She felt normal.

All of that changed when she saw Brooke glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Where were you?"

"I told you out with Nicole."

"Try again…"

Sam remains silent. She knew she was screwed, but she couldn't tell Brooke where she really was. It would ruin everything.

"Sam, where were you?"

"It doesn't matter," Sam says as she starts to walk towards her room.

Brooke steps forward and grabs Sam's arm.

"Actually it does. Your father is not here so I'm in charge and I want to know where you were."

Sam shakes her head.

Brooke let's go of Sam's arm.

"I'm trying here and I feel so out of place. I was worried about you. Before I thought you were with your friend and I was fine with that, but then I come to find that you weren't and you _lied_. My mind couldn't help but think of weird scenarios…so I'm asking again, where were you?"

"It's none of your business. You're not my mother. You're not anything."

Sam closed her eyes as soon as she uttered those words. Brooke steps away shaking her head and goes to walk into her room. Sam sighs and does the same.

**-WLOM-**

Sam entered her bedroom and instantly went to lie down on her bed. The words she had said to Brooke were the wrong ones obviously, but it slipped out. She knew from the start that Brooke felt out of place especially now that her mom was actually gone…dead…and wasn't ever coming back.

Deep down Sam knew what she was doing with Logan was wrong. He was older, an actual adult and she was just a teenager. She's underage and legally she has to be seventeen in order to be with him, but she was smitten with him. It wasn't love by any means, but she really liked him.

She knew her dad would be furious when she finds out and she's not sure what Brooke would think.

She was lying to everybody.

She was lying to her father.

She was lying to Brooke.

She was lying to Logan.

But mostly she was lying to herself if she thinks that the relationship could actually work. But it was worth a shot.

She knew she had to do something. Now all she had to do is figure out what that _thing _is.

"I could really use some of your advice mom. I'm so screwed up. What am I supposed to do?"

**-WLOM-**

Brooke sat starring at her wall. The words that Sam had said hurt her, but more importantly she never thought Sam could ever say those words to her face no less. She was in an impossible situation. Did she step up and be a mom or does she let Sam skate by? Would she be replacing Sam's mom?

Right now she wished that Julian was here.

**-WLOM- **

A few days later and Sam and Brooke had still not spoken to one another. Sam barely stepped out of her room and when she did Brooke would glance at her like she wanted to speak to her, but then didn't. Sam would do the same thing. But today it was going to be different.

Brooke was standing in the kitchen drinking her coffee and Sam was sitting on the stool eating her cereal. Sam dropped her spoon in the bowl and looked at Brooke.

"When's dad coming home?"

Brooke looked up surprised.

"In a few days."

"Cool."

It took over five minutes before Sam spoke again.

"I'm sorry."

Brooke glanced at Sam and placed her coffee mug on the table. She waited for Sam to continue.

"I shouldn't have lied to you and I'm sorry for that. It won't happen again, but you have to understand that I do that a lot…not the whole lying thing, but the being alone thing even when I was at home. My mom could trust me and I just hope that at some point you could trust me to."

"Sam, it's not about trust with me. I can trust you, but when I don't know where you are that's what bugs me. What if something had happened and I needed to get a hold of you?"

"I had my cell phone," Sam throws out casually.

"That's beside the point. Look, I'm new at this whole mom thing okay? I'm trying here, but I need you to try to. I'm not trying to replace your mom, but this is my house and you live under my ruled and your dads and your dad's not here. I was left in charge and you broke the most important rule."

"What rule is that?"

"Lying, that's an important rule. I haven't done this before, but I might as well start now…you're grounded. I'll speak to your father when he gets home, but until then you are grounded."

Sam sighs.

"What's your definition of grounded?"

"One week for lying to me and another for being rude. What you said to me was unacceptable and you know it."

Sam nods her head and gets up from her stool.

"Hey Brooke," Sam says before walking away.

"Yeah Sam."

"You did pretty well for your first grounding," Sam says with her father's grin.

"I appreciate that Sam. Now go to your room."


	19. Julian's Home

**A/N: I think I have got it narrowed down to when I want to end this story. I know it will be Brooke and Julian's wedding. That's the ending for sure or at least until I have more interest in the story to continue (It might NOT happen, but it COULD). I don't want this story to feel rushed so it will be between 25-30 chapters all together. We are already at 19.**

**Also, planning on making a video for this story, I haven't done those in a long time and I figured maybe someone would want to see that. More information at the end of the chapter.**

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**Chapter Nineteen: Julian's Home**

"This grounding thing kind of sucks," Sam mentions as she plops down on the coach. Brooke, who was busy drawing designs for her clothing line, stopped and smiled at Sam. She loved this whole grounding thing.

"Well if you would have just told me where you were then maybe you wouldn't be in this position."

Sam turns to Brooke with a frown.

"Have you ever been grounded before?"

Brooke closes her notebook and leans back against the arm rest of her couch.

"My parents were never really around. During my junior year of high school, my dad had gotten a job offer in Los Angeles. We had to move. At the time I wasn't dating Lucas, but I still loved him. Anyway, he managed to talk his mom into letting me stay with her until the summer. With a lot of pulling Karen managed to get my parents to say yes. Anyway, I didn't listen to what I was supposed to do and I was grounded. That's the only time I was ever grounded."

"So you were grounded by someone other than your parents, kind of like me right?"

"In a way," Brooke agrees. "You do still have the option to tell me where you were or who you were with."

Sam shakes her head.

"Not a chance."

"That's fine. We can wait until your dad comes home."

Sam's eyes widen. There were only two people in her entire life that could tell is Sam could lie, one is dead and the other one is on a plane about to come home.

**-WLOM- **

Julian Baker was beyond exhausted. He hated having to leave his family for awhile. He was worried at first that Sam and Brooke wouldn't get along, but from the conversations that he had with Brooke, it had eased his mind a little bit. His last conversation with her was a little interesting and he couldn't wait to get the full information.

When the cab pulled up to his house, he paid the driver, grabbed his bags and headed inside.

**-WLOM- **

When Julian walked inside he didn't think he would be seeing. His daughter was actually cleaning. Something he has never seen her do. Brooke was sitting on her stool watching with a smile.

Julian glances at Brooke.

"She was bored. She hates being grounded."

"Don't we all," Julian says as he places his bags on the ground. Brooke walks over to him and they fall into an embrace. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," Brooke whispers in her fiancé's ear.

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the love fest I have to clean the house. Now move," Sam orders.

Julian contained his chuckle and took Brooke's hand and moved out of the way so his daughter could continue to clean. Julian had dragged Brooke to the kitchen table.

"So explain to me why Sam is cleaning. What got her into trouble?"

"She just lied to me about who she was with. I also know that there is something that she's not telling me. Maybe you can try and talk to her."

Julian gives his daughter a worried look. Sam who had her earphones in couldn't hear them. Brooke had let her listen to music if she would clean.

"What's with the look?"

Julian turns back to Brooke and sighs.

"She's been like this before. Sara and I were really worried. She wouldn't talk to anybody. And I mean nobody, not her sister or her cousin. Next thing we know we get a call from the hospital. Sam was brought in for an apparent drug overdose. She was thirteen."

"Julian, that's awful."

Julian nods his head in agreement.

"I know. Sam hasn't touched drugs since, but maybe she is now."

"Then you should talk to her."

Julian nods his head in agreement.

**-WLOM- **

"Samantha, I need to talk to you, NOW!"

Sam quickly sat up in bed at her father's tone.

"What?"

"I know you are hurting. Your mom died and I get that. It's still no excuse for what you are doing. Lying is bad. Hurting people you are supposed to love is bad. Drugs are the worst Samantha. There is no excuse for that. Don't you remember how it hurt I was to see you like that?"

Sam raises her eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're doing drugs. That's why you are being so secretive."

"No, I'm not."

Julian looked at his daughter and all he could see was honesty written on her face. Julian took a seat on Sam's bed and let out a breath.

"Okay, so I might've jumped to conclusions. Sam, you need to tell me why you're being so secretive."

Sam shakes her head adamantly.

"I can't tell you."

"Sam, there was a time when you could tell me almost anything."

"Dad, the key word in that sentence is _almost_."

"Try and help me understand this. Why can't you tell us anything?"

"You probably wouldn't approve."

"Why wouldn't I approve?"

"Because I've been lying to everybody about a lot of stuff."

"I think it's time you make it right," Julian got up from the bed and walked towards the door. "And the boy you have been hiding, I want to meet him."

"How'd you know?"

"Sam, I'm not an idiot."

"Dad, I don't think he can come."

Julian leaned against the closed door.

"And why is that?"

"Because he thinks I'm older than what I am."

Julian quirked in eyebrow.

"How old is this boy?"

Sam looked away with a frown.

"Old enough not to be in high school."

"End it, NOW! He's too old for you. And you better not have done anything with him," Julian says before leaving the room and slamming the door shut.

Sam sighed and looked out her window. Her life sucked at the moment and telling Logan her real age was going to hurt like hell because she really liked him.

Sam knew one thing for sure. If she didn't tell Logan the truth then everything would just get worse.

* * *

**A/N: The music for the video will be Nick Lachey's **_**What's Left of Me. **_**I'm still trying to decide what I want to do for the video. I want to try to stick to the story as close as possible.**

**Here's what I need:**

**Younger actor and actress to play Julian and Sara (Sam's mom) from their teenage years.**

**I also need an adult version of Sara.**

**An Actress to play Sara's sister Kadyn and her daughter Katherine.**

**And I need a Logan.**

**If you have any thoughts on the video or have a better suggestion on how to make it let me know.**


	20. The Truth Comes Out

**A/N: So, I have actually gone back and reread this story when everyone had thrown a fit about me ending the story. And I realized some things…Like the story has just kind of started. I don't update on a concrete schedule only because I had no ideas coming at me and my life has been hectic at times. So as of right now I am amended my previous authors note and saying that I don't know when this will end…as long as I can come up with ideas then everything will be good.**

**I do however have a new idea on where I would like to end this story, but I can't tell you it will give everything away. But what I can tell you is that it's going to be awhile before I can get there.**

**Normally I would've just taken aspects from the movie Step Mom, but I didn't want to copy any of it because I would never do that movie the justice like it deserves. Now that I have a more of an understanding on where I want to go hopefully it will be easier for me to plan the remaining chapters however long it will be. And hopefully I won't be skipping any updates, if for some reason that I do, I won't do it twice in a row meaning that if I end up skipping a week the next week you will be receiving an update.**

**I hope that everyone is okay with that. There were hints of the future in this chapter by the way. So hopefully I can keep you all entertained.**

**But in the meantime I have actually sat down to plan a lot of new stories and I would like people to visit my profile and vote for their favorites.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: The Truth Comes Out**

"Where have you been these last few weeks?" Logan asks as soon as he sees his girlfriend walk up to him on the docks. "I've been worried about you."

"I know."

Sam sat down next to Logan and Logan put his arm around her.

"Sam, what's going on?"

Sam smiled at Logan and shook her head.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Let's just enjoy this day. I need to enjoy this day."

Logan smiled brightly unaware of how this day was going to end.

"So, I figured we could go see a movie and then grab something to eat. How does that sound?"

"Perfect."

Logan stood up and grabbed Sam's hand. Sam leaned against Logan and smiled sadly because she knew by the end of the day, what they had was going to be over.

**-WLOM- **

"How did it feel to ground somebody?" Julian asks as he and Brooke take a walk around town.

"It was different. I can admit that, but Julian, she's hiding something and I don't like it. I really don't like it."

Julian grinned at Brooke.

"It's your motherly ways that are starting to show Brooke Davis. I might not have told you this before, but I am glad that you love Sam. I was really worried when I had first met you. I don't tell many people about my daughter and I know it makes me look like a bad guy, but there are reasons."

"I get that Julian. I really do. You're in the spotlight, Sara wasn't and you didn't want Sam in it. It's understandable. I mean you see the movie stars or whatnot on the television and you see their kids. Pictures of their kids are on the magazines. I wouldn't want my kids on those either," Brooke stops Julian from walking and turns to him. "I know you love Sam. I love her, too. You are a great father so don't ever doubt yourself."

Julian nods his head and gives Brooke a watery smile.

"Sara used to tell me that all the time. When I doubted it, she could always see it in my eyes and I never understood how she did it, but she did. And now you can and I think I need that."

"You wear your emotions on your sleeve Julian Baker. It doesn't take a scientist to see how you feel. That's another thing you have in common with your daughter."

"Brooke, can I ask you something?"

Brooke looked around the street and found an empty bench. She dragged Julian over there before he could say anything.

"Okay, go ahead and ask now that I am sitting."

"I don't want to wait to call you my wife. I want to marry you soon. I can't wait anymore."

Brooke looked at Julian in surprise. They had talked about holding off on the wedding plans because of Sam and with Sara's death it just added to the fire.

"But we talked about it. We didn't want too many changes to happen in Sam's life so quickly."

"I know that. Trust me I do, but change can be a good thing and I mean we passed the one hurdle that I was afraid of."

Brooke raised an eyebrow as she straightens out her pant leg.

"What do you mean?"

"Sam likes you and that was the one thing that I was worried about. She didn't really fight you on the grounding so that's always plus and I think it will be okay. I mean we can plan a wedding in less than a month and we can get married in 3-6 months."

"June," Brooke announces. "Sam will be out of school and that gives us nine months to come up with our dream wedding."

Julian grins and nods his head.

"June it is."

**-WLOM- **

"You have been quiet all day," Logan notices as they walk along the beach.

"I'm sorry," Sam apologizes. "I've just been kind of in my head the whole day. It's not the company, I just. I'm worried about a lot of stuff right now."

"Sam, I have a month left before I have to go back to school, but that doesn't mean we have to break up or anything."

Sam shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. That's what I have been worried about and you're right," Sam lies.

Logan smiles kindly at his girl before leaning down and kissing her.

**-WLOM- **

"I think we should talk about our future a little bit," Julian says as he wiggles his toes into the sand on the beach.

"And what do you mean by that Mr. Baker?" Brooke asks with a grin as she places her hair into a pony tail, loving the wind in her face.

"Do you want kids with me?"

Brooke nods her head.

"I've wanted kids for a long time. So, I'd be happy to have kids with you."

Julian grabs onto his fiancé's hand and grins.

"Boy or girl?"

"Would you find it weird if I said boy?"

Julian shakes his head.

"No, I just have pictured you with a little girl in your arms."

"Everyone has said that, but I think it has to do with the fact that the first baby that I really have had a huge roll was with Haley's son. I fell for him instantly. I guess to me, it wouldn't matter, but having a son would be good. I'd love a daughter, too, but it really doesn't matter."

"Same here," Julian says with a smile as he stares lovingly into his future wife's eyes.

Brooke kisses Julian quickly and starts running down the beach. Julian grins and starts to run after her. It didn't take long to stumble upon to people making out on the beach. The girl was lying down on the sand and the boy was on top of her. Brooke's eyes widen when she sees the girl on the sand. It was Sam.

Julian steps beside Brooke and shakes his head.

"This is a public place. Can't they make out in privacy?"

"Um…Julian, shut up."

"What?" Julian asks in confusion.

"Don't get mad," Brooke says slowly as she continues to watch Sam who still hasn't noticed that they were there."

Julian looks from Brooke and then back to the two people in the sand. Julian's good mood quickly turns into anger when he sees the girl lying on the sand.

"Get off of her!" Julian yells as he runs forward.

Logan pulls away from Sam and licks his lips.

"Oh no," Sam mutters as she sits up.

"What?" Logan asks.

"Run," Sam says before she hears her father get closer. "Run, Now!"

Logan looks at the man running at him and he quickly gets up to his feet and starts running. Sam runs away from her father not noticing that Brooke was running her way.

Sam didn't get very far after tripping on her pant leg. Brooke caught up to Sam and sat down beside her.

"You're in trouble."

"Yeah," Sam says after she catches her breath. "We better stop dad from trying to kill Logan."

Brooke shakes her head with a smile.

"You got grounded over a boy."

Sam shakes her head.

"No, I got grounded over a man."

Brooke's eyebrow rose.

"How old is he?"

**-WLOM- **

When Sam and Brooke had reached Julian and Logan, Julian had Logan by the collar of his shirt.

"She is sixteen years old and you look older than her. What the hell do you think you are doing taking advantage of my daughter?"

Logan took what Julian had been saying in stride. He hoped that crazy dad wouldn't hit him. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Sam.

"I could use some help here, please," Logan pleads.

Sam goes up to her father and grabs a hold of his arm.

"Dad stop, please," Sam cries out. "You could hurt him."

Julian looked away from Logan and then to his daughter.

"JULIAN!" Brooke screamed.

Julian dropped his hands and Logan fell to the sand.

"I didn't know," Logan whispered.

Julian glares at the man on the ground.

"I didn't know that she was sixteen."

Julian looks towards his daughter.

"I lied," Sam says ashamed. "I lied to everybody."

"I'm going home," Julian announces. He looks at Logan. "Stay away from my daughter!"

Sam watched as Brooke and Julian walked away. She turned her head to Logan who was waiting for an explanation.

"Why would you lie?" Logan says as he stands up and fixes his shirt.

"You were nice and I liked you. I figured if I would've told you my real age that you wouldn't want to do what we've been doing."

Logan shakes his head.

"It's not true. The only thing that would've changed was the kissing. Sam, you're sixteen years old and I am an adult. I can't do that with you. I'm just really glad that we didn't have sex and that kissing is all we did."

Sam looks at Logan with tears in her eyes. She walks closer to him and Logan grabs her hands.

"I'm sorry Logan."

"I'm sorry, too. I fell for you Sam. So quickly and it scared me and it scares me even more because your sixteen, but I guess I was wrong today. We are breaking up."

Logan wraps his arms around Sam and Sam cries into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. But I'd want you as a friend and then maybe when you're eighteen and I'm not with someone than maybe there will be hope from us."

"I hope so," Sam whispers with a sniffle.

**-WLOM- **

"She was supposed to end it Brooke and when she had said old enough not to be in high school I figured he was eighteen or something. He looked older than eighteen!" Julian rants as he paces his living room floor.

"Julian, you have to calm down."

"I can't believe she would do that. Do you think she had sex with him?" Julian asks as his eyes widen in surprise. "God, what if that happened?"

"Julian, calm down. I don't think Sam would've had sex with him. Honestly I don't. She was guilty and she knew it was wrong. Julian, she's a smart girl."

Sam walked into the house after hearing the argument from behind the front door. Sam looked at her dad and he pointed to the couch. Sam sat down.

"How old is he?"

"Twenty."

Julian's hands clench and unclench.

"Did you have sex with him?"

"No, I didn't do that. All we did was kiss."

"Did you end it?"

Sam nods her head.

"Good," Julian says before walking out the front door.

Sam sighs and rests her head against the back of the couch.

"He'll calm down Sam. It will be okay."

"What do you know about it?"

Brooke bites the bottom of her lip before speaking.

"I slept with my teacher when I was in high school."

Sam's eyes widen in surprise.

"Granted I didn't know he was the new teacher at my school and he thought my name was Peyton, but he told me he was a model."

"I'm sorry Brooke. I really am."

Brooke pats Sam's knee.

"It will be okay, Sam. Have you thought about trying out for the track team?"

* * *

**A/N: You can either vote from my profile or tell me in my review…Pick your two favorite…**

**A-Being 15 years old and the daughter of big time producer and director Julian Baker and Hollywood's biggest actress Alex Dupre, Samantha Baker had never had an easy life always being in the spotlight. Can a small town of Tree Hill, North Carolina change everything for a girl who thought she had nothing? Couples: Brooke/Julian, Alex/Chase.**

**B-The Baker Twins, Jude and Davis were always curious people unlike their older sister Samantha. So when Brooke and Julian separated they asked why. When their parents started dating other people, they asked why…When they saw their sister with cuts on her wrists or saw their sister snorting white powder, it was only logical that they asked why. Couples: Brooke/Julian, Brooke/OC, Julian/OC**

**C-23 year old Brooke Davis had it all. She was rich, powerful and single…until she fell asleep. When she woke up she was 39, married, running a small town Café and the big shocker, a mother to a 15 year old, Samantha Baker and 10 year old, Jude Baker. Couple: Brooke/Julian.**

**D-Julian Baker first met Brooke almost 6 years ago. She was 17 and he was 20. It had been love at first sight, but like most summer romances, they come to an inevitable end. He thought he'd never see her again, until a job put him in her hometown. When he saw her again he expected the spark between them to still exist. What he didn't expect to see was the small little girl holding onto her legs and calling her mommy. Couple: Brooke/Julian.**

**E-Sam was happy with her family. She had adopted Aunts and Uncles and a couple of cousins plus two parents that loved her. A classroom assignment makes Sam's reality hit her hard with just two words. Family Tree. Sam already knew who her birth mother was, but not once had she thought about her birth father, until now. When she learns the truth, she realizes she's a little closer to her huge adopted family then she believed. Couple: Brooke/Julian.**


	21. I'm Not Losing You

**A/N: Sorry this is up later, but I've been busy writing for the next update of I Need You Now. Since I'm almost done with that chapter I figured I would post this chapter now.**

**As for the order in which the new stories I will be starting, I'm giving it another week before I tell you. Votes in my profile are really low, but votes from reviews are huge…I have to do some tallies and then I have to plan the story…**

**I'll be working on one of the new stories after I finish writing You Found Me, the sequel to How to Save a Life, which is currently being written as we speak. I want to be almost finished with writing that story until I post it so you have to wait a little bit longer on that.**

**Enjoy the Chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: I'm Not Losing You**

It had been two weeks since the Logan incident and Julian and Sam have barely spoken. Brooke was their go between and she really hated that job. She loved her fiancé and she loved Sam, but she just wanted the father daughter duo to start talking again.

In the mornings, everyone would sit down and have breakfast together, in silence unless it was to say 'pass the milk'.

And here they all were on the first day of the third week, sitting at the table getting ready to eat breakfast.

"Pass the milk," Julian states at his fiancé.

Brooke looked from Julian to Sam.

"No."

Both sets of eyes looked at her.

"Two weeks. It's been two weeks and you two have barely said two words to each other. Well that's going to change now. Sam, normally, I'm sure you would have spoken to your mom about your problems with your father, but she's gone. I get that. It doesn't mean you keep everything inside," Brooke turned to Julian. "And you," Julian looks up from his bowl. "I love you and I know you loved Sara and I know you are upset about what happened, but do NOT let this ruin your relationship with your daughter. I didn't have a father growing up and I wished I had. You two have the most amazing relationship that I have ever seen. Don't ruin it for something not worth ruining it for." Brooke stands up from the table and places her hands on her hips. "I am leaving and you two are going to stay here and work it out." Both Julian and Sam look away. "I mean it!"

Brooke storms out of the house after grabbing her purse and keys. Julian looked towards his daughter. Sam ignored him and poured milk into her bowl and started eating her food.

"Pass the milk."

Sam sighs and passes the milk to her father. They didn't say a word.

**-WLOM- **

"They are the worst stubborn people I have ever met! I mean come on, two weeks without saying two words to each other. It's freaking ridiculous. Isn't it?" Brooke turned to the person sitting on the couch of the Scott household.

Jamie looked at Brooke confused while she continued to rant…again.

"I don't know what to do anymore Jamie," Brooke huffed and sat down next to her godson. "Do you have any insight for me?"

"My momma says that when two people are fighting it means they can't find the words to say. Yelling just kind of takes over."

Brooke smiles down at her godson.

"You may have a point Jamie. I just want Julian and Sam to be back to the way they are."

"It's okay, Aunt Brooke. You still have me," Jamie says with a bright smile.

Brooke chuckles and ruffles his hair.

"Tell me Jamie, why are you so smart?"

"Because of me," Haley says as she walks into the room with a smile. "Sorry it took me so long. So, what were you ranting to my son earlier about?"

"Julian and Sam are still not talking," Jamie stated before leaving the room.

Haley smiles as she watches her son walk away. He was super smart and she loved him.

"Was what happened really that bad?" Haley questions as she sits down. "I mean, yes, it was wrong for Sam to lie to everybody especially Logan, but they didn't do anything besides kiss."

"I know, but I have a feeling that there's more to this story then what I have noticed."

"Then you need to talk to him, sweetie."

"Not until he fixes things with his daughter."

**-WLOM- **

"We can't keep doing this. Brooke is right and quite frankly she can be kind of scary. We need to fix whatever this is. Why are you so upset?"

Julian looked up from his book and sighed. He knew that the anger that he had for his daughter had dissipated a few days after their argument, but he had realized some things from the silent days he had not talking to his daughter. She was growing up and she was growing up way too fast for him. His daughter was dating and her first choice for a boyfriend was for someone who was twenty years old.

Watching Sam grow up was hard for him. Her first words were dada. Her first smile was directed at him. Her first steps were towards him and Sara.

Now here she was 16 years old and she's not that little girl anymore and it broke his heart. Was it too hard to ask for her to stay his little girl forever?

"You're not my little girl anymore," Julian whispers as he closes his eyes. "When you were born, you were so beautiful and you still are just ten times more. I remember your mom breastfeeding you and you were holding onto my finger. You opened your eyes and looked at me," Sam sat down as tears fell from her and Julian's eyes. "And you just kept the grip and now I realize that you finally let go and I'm not handling that so well."

"Daddy, I'm never letting go. I'm just holding on differently. You've got to see that. Daddy, I already lost mom, there's no way I'm losing you, too."

Julian places his book down on the table and hugs his daughter for dear life.

"I love you so much, baby girl."

"I love you, too, daddy."

When Brooke returned home she smiled when she saw Sam and Julian asleep on the couch, Sam in Julian's arms.


	22. Game On

**A/N: This should've been up yesterday, but I am currently a volunteer for a program this summer so my hours are kind of wacky. I was just so tired to write yesterday…So, here is what I have been thinking and this is only for the next three months or so, but I was thinking that if you don't see an update for any one of my stories on the day they are supposed to be updated then expect to see one on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. That way I don't have to skip a week, you just have to wait a few days.**

**The poll results are in and I will be telling you guys the results of the poll.**

**Here is the order that I will be writing these stories…D, B, E, C, A**

**D=29 Votes, B=25 Votes, E=21 Votes, C=14 Votes, A=10 Votes**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Game On**

"This is weird for me," Julian admits as he fills his glass with Orange juice. He wasn't a coffee kind of guy. "The only other time that I had a first day of school with Sam was when she was in kindergarten."

"That's understandable, Julian. You became the summer parent."

"That doesn't make it understandable. It means I was never really there. It sucks Brooke."

Brooke pours coffee into her cup and walks over to Julian.

"I didn't mean to have it sound like that. I really didn't. What I meant was that Sara had Sam during the school year so you wouldn't have had that opportunity. Now you do, it's under hard circumstances, but you do now."

"How is Sam supposed to do this without her?" Julian questions.

"Like I did it without you," Sam says as she walks into the kitchen with a yawn. "Only this time it's you that is going be there and not mom." Sam takes a seat on the stool and yawns again.

"Nicole said she'll be here an about an hour so get yourself ready," Brooke comments.

"I hate school," Sam grumbles as she walks back into her room.

Brooke and Julian laugh at Sam's antics.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this Brooke," Julian says as he shakes his head. "She's in her junior year of high school."

Brooke hugs her fiancée and sighs into his chest.

"No parent is ready for their child to grow up."

**-WLOM-**

"Thanks for picking me up," Sam says as she hopes into Nicole's car.

"It's not a problem. You're on my way anyway so it works just fine. My question to you is when are you going to get your license?"

Sam sighs.

"I don't know. It's not really on my to do list."

"It was just a question, but anyway, do you have any idea on your schedule yet?"

"No idea. I just have to go to the office and pick up my schedule."

"We'll be there in five."

**-WLOM- **

Sam was pretty familiar with the layout of Tree Hill High so she knew where the office was. Nicole went with her just for company.

"I need my schedule. I'm new," Sam says as she plants her feet in front of the desk.

The lady in front of her looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"Name?"

"Samantha Baker," Sam replies quickly.

The lady hands over Sam's schedule and Sam and Nicole walk out of the office.

"Is it just me or did that lady not want to be there?"

"It's not just you," Nicole says with a slight smile. "What classes do you have?"

**Samantha Baker Locker Number A247 Combination 8-24-7**

_**Period One (7:30-8:30) **_

**Chemistry with Mr. Jenner**

_**Period Two (8:35-9:35)**_

**Topics in Literature with Ms. Connor**

_**Period Three (9:40-10:40)**_

**World History with Mr. Franta**

**Lunch (10:45-11:15)**

_**Period Four (11:20-12:20)**_

**Gym with Ms. Howard**

_**Period Five (12:25-1:25)**_

**Creative Writing with Mrs. Scott**

**Period Six (1:30-2:30)**

**Algebra II with Ms. Harris**

"I'm already hating this schedule already," Sam says with a grumble. "Really, the only class I am looking forward to is Mrs. Scott's class."

Nicole chuckles and hands Sam's schedule back to her.

"Sam, it's not so bad."

"I hate math and it's my last class. My day is going to suck."

**-WLOM-**

"Julian, I'm bored," Brooke whines.

Julian laughs from his spot on the couch.

"You miss Sammy, don't you?" Julian asks with a grin.

Brooke nods her head with a sigh.

"Yes, I loved when it was summer. I had the sarcastic teenager around me, now I'm just freaking bored. I don't like this at all. Maybe we should home school her."

"Brooke."

Brooke shakes her head.

"Julian, I love Sam and she is the one I have been spending my time with this summer. Is it so wrong to feel like I want to keep her in this house forever?"

"Brooke, you better cover up. Your maternal instincts are showing."

Brooke smiles fondly.

"I think I'm okay with that."

"It looks good on you," Julian comments as he scoots closer to his fiancée. "It even looks hot."

Brooke turns to Julian with a smile.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Julian Baker?"

"Maybe, is it working?"

Brooke's smile turns passive.

"No, not at all," Brooke says before getting off of the couch and walking into the kitchen.

Julian looks at Brooke in disbelief.

"Brooke Davis is a tease."

"You know it, baby."

**-WLOM- **

Sam's classes have been the same for every single period. It was the first day and all the classes had gone over the basic rules and such of the day. To put it shortly, the day was boring.

Mrs. Scott's class was the best one so far. Haley had made it entertaining. She was really looking forward to the class for the year.

Now she had Math and she was really hesitating on whether or not to actually attend. She knew she had to though.

Sam walked into the classroom and sighed when she saw that she was the first one to arrive. When Sam looked at the teacher, she dropped her books.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Ms. Harris or what Sam referred to her as her father's ex turns around and grins.

"Well if it isn't Samantha Baker."

Sam picked up her books and sighed.

"I want to transfer."

"Take a seat Samantha because that's not going to happen. I've got a bone to pick with you."

Sam takes a seat and raises an eyebrow.

"I'd watch what you say Ms. Harris, you could get fired for saying stuff like that," Sam says with a grin.

"Maybe I should set up a parent teacher conference."

"On the first day of school, wouldn't that be a little fishy? He dumped you, get over it."

Melissa Harris stepped forward and placed her hands on Sam's desk.

"If it wasn't for you, your dad and I would already be married."

Sam shakes her head.

"My father wouldn't marry you if you were the last person on earth. He'd turn gay before he married you."

The bell rings and Melissa gives Sam one last glare as the rest of her students walk into the classroom.

Sam stared at Melissa as she began class.

_Game on_ Sam thinks with a smirk.


	23. Say a Little Prayer

**A/N: Wow this is the first story I updated this week…I've just been tired…god so tired, but I have stuff written for the chapters of my other stories…anyway, hope you enjoy this update. It's a little on the short side, but I can barely keep my eyes open for this.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Say a Little Prayer**

"I have a serious problem," Sam says as soon as she enters the Scott house. Sam knew that Peyton would be at home so Sam had walked right in. Lucky enough, Peyton was sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing.

"What serious problem would that be?" Peyton asks with an amused grin.

She had watched Sam enter her house in a huff and throw her bag on the floor.

"I'm going to fail Math. I already know this."

"Sam, you really aren't making any sense right now. Tell me what is going on."

Sam turns to Peyton with a frown.

"Do you remember dad's ex girlfriend?"

Peyton's face shows an amount of disgust.

"Yes, I remember. She was such a bitch to you. I wanted to kill her."

"She's my math teacher," Sam deadpans.

"Can you switch classes?" Peyton asks wanting the answer to be yes so bad.

Sam shakes her head.

"I'll have to deal."

"Sam, last time you tried to deal things got bad."

Sam snuggles into Peyton's side.

"I know, but I have to stand on my own with this woman. She pissed me off and turned my dad against me for some time. I don't want that to happen again so I'm going to do all I can for that not to happen."

"I think you should tell your dad about Melissa being your teacher," Peyton says as she curls her arms around Sam.

"No, despite how she treated me, dad was happy with her until he realized how badly she did treat me besides he's happy now and planning a wedding. I don't need to distract him from that."

"You're a good kid Sam."

"I know," Sam says with a small grin.

**-WLOM- **

Melissa Harris had only been in love once in her life. The only man she had ever loved was Julian Baker.

The first time she had met Julian Baker was actually in a grocery store. He needed to know where the cereal was. She had showed him and things went from there.

They dated for awhile and when awhile turned into a few months, Julian dropped the bombshell. He finally told Melissa that he had a daughter. She had said it was no big deal, that she loved little kids. She wasn't prepared for that little kid to be 12 years old, a bratty one at that.

Melissa walked into her apartment after teaching for the day. She liked most of her students. She didn't like Sam though. She hated Sam. Sam ruined everything for her.

Melissa dropped her bag onto the couch and headed to her bedroom. She flipped on the lights and smiled at everything that was around her room.

Pictures upon pictures of Julian Baker, she even had some of Sam with a red X over her face.

**-WLOM- **

Sam walked into the house and raised an eyebrow. Brooke and Julian were sitting on the couch and looking at her.

"You guys are creeping me out. Do something else, but stare at me?"

Brooke blushed and looked away. Julian got off of the couch and hugged his daughter tightly.

"I missed you Samantha."

"Dad, I'm okay and it was just school. I'm fine."

Julian pulls away from his daughter sheepishly.

"Sorry," Julian quickly apologizes.

"I'm going to go to my room and call Aunt Kadyn."

Sam excuses herself from the room and goes into her bedroom. Julian sits back on the couch and sighs.

"When she got home, that wasn't what I imagined would happen."

"Julian, Sam is probably missing her mom right now. We missed her for a day, but she came back. Sara doesn't have that luxury and Sam knows that. She's going to call the one person beside herself that has a real connection to her. Let her be."

Julian looked at his fiancé and all he could see was the love in her eyes.

"You make everything all better. What did I do to deserve you?"

"I could ask the same question," Brooke states before kissing her fiancé with a small amount of passion.

**-WLOM- **

"I miss her," Sam states over the phone.

"_I know you do, sweetie. We all miss her, but you have your dad and Brooke and Peyton there for you, don't you?"_

"Yeah, I do, but they aren't mom."

"_I know they aren't. Every day I wake up and wait for the phone to ring because every morning your mother would call me. I keep forgetting that my phone hasn't rung in the morning for awhile. It's not something you can just get used to. You just have to deal."_

Sam lays her head on the bed and sighs.

"I just want my mom. Is that so hard to ask or want? Why did god have to take her away? She was a good person, why did it have to be her?" Sam cries.

"_I don't know. I wish I knew, but I don't and you're right your mother is a good person, she was a good person."_

Sam sniffles into the phone and wipes her tears away.

"I just wanted to call you Aunt Kadyn. I should let you go now, but I'll call you later."

"_I love you, Samantha."_

"I love you, too," Sam replied before hanging up the phone.

Sam dropped her phone and the bed and closed her eyes. Today hadn't really been her day at all and she thinks it's because her mom wasn't there with her and she was pissed at that. There was really only one person she could talk to about that.

Sam folded her hands and did what she had never done before.

She prayed.


	24. Afterschool Threat

**A/N: Alright, so my schedule is going to be incredible busy for the next two months so updates for my stories will be at random and hopefully once a week. If you don't see an update for this story one week, plan on seeing it the next week. I can't keep to a schedule right now, my apologies, but volunteering is kind of important to me so my writing comes second. I hope you all understand.**

**There isn't any Julian or Brooke in this chapter and I'm sorry about that, but I had no idea where I was going with this chapter, but peyton13sawyer helped me out a little bit.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four: Afterschool Threat**

It had been a few days since Sam had told Peyton that Melissa, Julian's ex was her new Math Teacher.

"I'm stuck on what to do Lucas," Peyton complains as she gets things ready for the studio. "Julian is my friend and Melissa is just plain weird."

"Explain to me how bad she is," Lucas says as he walks away from the kitchen table to the coffee pot. He needed coffee if he was going to sit through what seemed like a very long story.

Peyton took a seat at the table.

"When Julian was dating her, everything was fine. She treated him well. Julian treated her well. With every girl that Julian has dated including me, he didn't talk about Sam until he thought that they might have a future together. Julian loved Melissa until he realized how horrible Melissa treated Sam once she found out he had a daughter."

Lucas furrows his eyebrows.

"Wait; was Melissa before you or after you?"

"Before."

Lucas nods his head and sips his coffee.

"Did she ever abuse Sam?"

"It was mostly verbal from what I know, but the one time that Melissa laid a hand on Sam was the time that Julian ended that relationship quickly. And I only know this because Julian and Melissa fought when she tried to get him back while he was dating me."

"Julian has a history like the residents in Tree Hill."

Peyton purses her lips.

"Yeah, but his whole life is for his daughter. I saw firsthand the lengths that Julian would go to protect his daughter. We were on the beach one day. It was near the end of Julian and I's relationship before we fought and we were just enjoying the day. Julian, Sam and I were sitting on the blanket, enjoying the sun and getting ready to swim when Melissa comes up and then just starts exploding over nothing."

"How old was Sam?"

"Twelve."

**-WLOM-**

"_When do you want to go swimming?" Julian asks his daughter as he passes the sunscreen to Peyton. _

_Peyton starts applying it to Sam's skin._

"_Not yet," Sam says with a grin. "I just want to lay here with you guys."_

_Peyton grins over Sam's head and looks at Julian who winks at her._

"_Well that's good because I could use the company."_

_After Peyton finishes applying sunscreen on Sam, she applies it to herself._

"_So, I was thinking that after-" Julian starts to say, but is quickly interrupted by a person running over to them._

"_Julian! Julian, you have to understand," Melissa pleads._

_Sam cowers away from Melissa. Peyton stayed frozen, not knowing what to do._

"_No, leave my family alone Melissa. You couldn't accept my daughter so our relationship is through and it has been for awhile. I'm with Peyton now."_

_Melissa throws Peyton a look and shakes her head._

"_I don't care about that slut. I care about you. We can be together again," Melissa pleads with a hopeful look on her face. "Sam can just stay with her mother."_

_Julian shakes his head adamantly._

"_I'm not just going to pawn off my daughter to her mother. This is my time with her so leave us alone."_

"_Yeah, leave us alone!" Sam yelled._

_Melissa started to see red. She raised her hand in a moment of anger getting ready to slap Sam, but in a move that surprised everyone, Julian had tackled Melissa to the ground._

"_Peyton! Grab Sam and get the hell out of here."_

**-WLOM-**

"It was so surreal, Lucas. I've never seen Julian do anything like that."

"He loves his daughter Peyton. I'd do that to and so would you and so would Haley and Nathan and Brooke. When someone you care about is injured or is going to be injured by someone else's hand that's when we do the unexpected."

Peyton checks the time on the clock and sighs.

"I have to go, but I should be home later tonight."

Lucas nods his head.

"Have you decided on if you are going to tell Julian about Melissa?"

Peyton shakes her head.

"No, I haven't, but I guess I have some time to think about it."

**-WLOM-**

"Sam, please stay after class," Ms. Harris says as the rest of the class leaves for the day.

Sam rolls her eyes and stays in her seat.

"What's wrong, Ms. Harris?" Sam asks snottily.

"Watch the attitude Samantha. I just wanted to talk."

Sam glares and shakes her head as she gathers her things.

"I'm not going to be your pal. I'm leaving."

"If you walk out that door, I'll give you detention for the entire year."

Sam halts her movements at the door. She hated detention and she wasn't sure if Melissa was bluffing or not. Sam turns her head and smiles.

"Do whatever you want Melissa, but that wouldn't get on my dad's side, would it?"

Sam leaves the room and Melissa is left angrier than ever.

"I hate that girl," Melissa mutters.


	25. Interlude One: Scared Teens

**A/N: Hey guys…so um I kind of got stuck for moving the story forward so I figured I would give myself a break this week to plan for the next…meanwhile as to not leave you all hanging I figured I would write a couple Interlude chapters at random…These chapters would include basically the past of this story as for example with this interlude it will be Sara and Julian dealing with the idea of becoming parents…I hope you all enjoy this interlude.**

* * *

**Interlude One: Scared Teens**

"A-a-are you sure" a 15 year old Julian stutters through. His girlfriend, Sara Bryce had just told him she was pregnant and now he was freaking out.

Sara nods her head.

"I took the test and it was positive."

Julian sits down next to Sara on her bed.

"We were both using protection. I just don't understand how this can happen."

Sara stands up from the bed and glares at her boyfriend.

"We had sex Julian. We weren't so lucky like everyone else has been."

Julian nods his head.

"What are we going to do Sara? What do you want to do?"

Sara sits down next to her boyfriend and cries.

"I don't know," Sara cries out.

Julian wraps his arms around his girlfriend and let's her cry into his shoulder. It was the least he could do.

* * *

Alexander and Rebecca Bryce didn't know what to think when they were asked to sit down in front of their youngest daughter and her boyfriend. They had seen their daughter's puffy, red eyes and Julian's nervousness and right away they knew they weren't going to like what was going to come of this meeting.

Julian clears his throat before speaking.

"Um, Mr. Bryce sir, um, um," Alexander raises an eyebrow, but keeps his face neutral. "Something happened and I-I can't change it," Sara gripped onto her boyfriend's hand as Julian continued to speak. "I got your daughter pregnant," Julian blurts out.

Rebecca gasps and looks directly at her daughter while Alexander looked as though he would throttle Julian at any moment. His eerily calm tone scared both Sara and Julian.

"You did wrong. Pre-marital sex is wrong. You both are fifteen years old," Alexander shakes his head and turns to his daughter. "Sara, look at me," he ordered. Sara looked at him. "You will get an abortion and you will longer be dating anybody."

"But daddy," Sara places her hands on her stomach. "It's my baby."

Alexander shakes his head with anger.

"It's no baby. You are a baby, babies don't have babies and you will not have one. Do you understand me?"

Sara stayed frozen in her spot, but nodded her head nonetheless. Alexander stood up from his spot in his chair and walked over to Julian.

"Get out of my house," Alexander says harshly.

Julian does as he is told.

* * *

It took Julian a little while to get home from Sara's house. His bleary eyes kept bothering him. It had taken him awhile to realize that he had been crying it was just another thing the kids in school could pick on him for. He was already a geek, why not add cry baby to it too.

Julian walked into his house and saw his mother sitting on the couch. She had been watching some movie on TV.

Sylvia Baker turned to her son when she heard him enter the leaving room. She grew concerned when she noticed the small tears forming in her son's eyes.

"Juju Bean, what's the matter?"

That nickname had always bothered him, but at the moment he didn't really care. He needed his mom.

"I'm going to be a father."

Sylvia's eyes widen, but quickly go back to normal when her son started to cry. Sylvia quickly got up from the couch and brought her son to sit down next to him.

"Oh, Juju Bean, why did this have to happen?" Sylvia asked out loud.

"I'm sorry," Julian cries into his mother's shoulder.

Sylvia silently cried while her son did.

A few minutes later, Julian had been all cried out. Sylvia quickly wiped her tears in hopes that her son hadn't noticed her weak moment.

"What's going to happen, Julian?"

Julian looks away from his mother.

"Abortion," Julian whispers.

"What? Julian, you and Sara can't just kill a living thing!" Sylvia yelled angrily. This was going to be her grandbaby, despite her son being too young to be a dad this baby was a part of the family.

"I know. I don't want to," Julian says with a sniffle. "I don't think Sara wants that either."

"Well then we have to do something about it, don't we?"

* * *

His mom had been gone for more than an hour and Julian was worried that she had gone out to drink away her pain like she usually does, but he was surprised when he walked down stairs and Sara was standing in the living room. Sylvia had just walked into the house with Sara's bags.

Sylvia smiled gently at her son.

"Sara's going to be staying with us for awhile Juju Bean."

Julian just nods his head not knowing what to really say at the moment. Sara turned to her boyfriend with a small smile, a hand placed on her belly in a form of protection despite it only being a few months since she had been pregnant.

"Julian, can you please take these upstairs to the guest room? That's where Sara will be staying."

Julian does what he is told and brings Sara's bags upstairs. Sylvia walks over to Sara and places a hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome home Sara."

* * *

Sara walked into her boyfriend's bedroom after Sylvia had gone to sleep. Julian was lying on his bed in his pajama pants and was currently staring at the ceiling seemingly to be in deep thought. Sara crawled in and laid down next to Julian.

"We're really going to do this. We are going to be parents."

"Yeah, we are."

"I'm scared Julian," Sara admits like it was a bad thing.

Julian turns and faces his girlfriend.

"I am too, but I promise that I will be there for you and for our baby no matter what. I love you and I love our baby and I want to be the best dad in the world, better than my dad and better than your dad. I love you Sara Bryce. I'm not going anywhere."

Sara cuddles close to her boyfriend.

"That's good," Sara says with a yawn before closing her eyes. "We want you to be."

And from then on, Julian made sure he kept his promise.

* * *

**A/N: So, are you interested in seeing more interludes? If you are, please give something you want to see. I'd love to include them.**


	26. Accidents Happen

**A/N: So most people did like my interlude and I have decided that I will be adding more just not at this point right now.**

**The ending for this story isn't near yet, but I would say that we are almost at the halfway point for this story. Honestly, I never really wanted it to last this long, but I kept getting more interests for it so I continued.**

**I know where I want to end the last chapter for this story at least I think because I've been toying with an epilogue and if I do one I want it to be the longest chapter that I have ever done and my thoughts on the epilogue would show glimpses of the future spanning a lot of years. I'll give warning for when this story is done. I just wanted everyone to know my thoughts.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Accidents Happen**

"Are you serious? Ms. Harris dated your dad."

Sam had just gotten done telling Nicole about Melissa and her dad. Lately, things haven't let up between Melissa's hostility towards Sam.

"Yeah she did. I've tried to block out the things she has done, but it won't go away."

"Is she really that bad?" Nicole asks as she and Sam walk home from school.

"Yeah, she hit me a few times and when dad found out he kind of went ballistic on her and he had a right to be. She was more invested in him then with him and me. I wasn't part of her reality."

"That sucks Sam. I'm sorry about that, but shouldn't you tell somebody what is going on."

Sam shakes her head.

"No, things will just get worse. I rather just keep this stuff to myself."

**-WLOM-**

"Julian Baker, we have to plan this wedding."

Julian sits down next to Brooke on the couch and sighs.

"Brooke, weddings aren't really my thing. All you have to do is give me the time and place and I will be standing at the altar waiting for you to walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress."

Brooke raises an eyebrow at Julian.

"Brooke, I'll give you my opinions when you ask for them, but otherwise I don't know how much of a help I will be."

Brooke sighs and throws her book on the table.

"Brooke, we have plenty of time to plan the wedding okay? There is no rush here."

"I know, but if we get the planning done then things will be easier on us. It would be one less thing to worry about and then we can just deal with the present."

Julian looks at his fiancé in confusion.

"What's happening with the present?"

"Sam has been acting strange these last few weeks. She's been distant and not really taking an interest in school. I'm worried about what that means."

Julian shakes his head with a soft sigh.

"Not again. I can't deal with this again."

Julian had recognized the signs before. Sam had acted like Brooke had just described when Sam had first started doing drugs. He barely believed Sara when she first told him and he didn't want to jump to conclusions either. Something was definitely going on with his daughter. He just feels bad that he hadn't seen it first.

"I can't just ask her Brooke. Sam will lie. We just have to keep a close eye on her."

**-WLOM-**

"Okay class the period is almost over," Ms. Harris said as she tried talking to her class, but no one was listening and Melissa had just about enough.

In the back of the room Sam was busy entertaining the class with her rude jokes.

"Now what do you call a math teacher with an ugly face and an unhealthy obsession?" Sam waited, but no one had said anything. "Ms. Harris."

The class cracked up and Ms. Harris was fuming in the front of the room. The bell rings and everyone rushes to get out of the classroom. Before Sam could make her escape Melissa slammed her door closed. Sam stopped her movements and slowly backed up.

"Are you going to let me out at any point?" Sam asks bored with the situation.

"You are getting on my nerves little girl."

"I'm not your little girl and you're not that intimating."

Sam starts to walk towards the door put was pushed against the wall. Sam turned around, her back to the wall and stared at Melissa who was just a few inches in front of her.

"You should be afraid, Samantha. If you thought that the few slaps I gave you was bad just you wait."

"I can have you fired."

Melissa sneers and grabs a hold of Sam's neck and slowly squeezed.

"You'd be dead before you could say a word."

Sam was gasping for her air and then Melissa let go of Sam's neck.

"I hope this little talk does you well Sam. I wouldn't want your father to get the news about his dead daughter not after losing the mother of his child would you?" Melissa asks with a sneer.

Sam's eyes widen in response.

"What did you do?"

Melissa laughs a menacing laugh.

"I don't know what you mean. Care to explain it for me?"

Sam shoved Melissa back.

"What happened to my mother?"

"Accidents happen."

**-WLOM-**

Sam was so furious after her run in with Melissa. Something about Melissa had not sit well with her the moment she had started dating her father. Now it just seemed ten times worse. But her conversation today had actually scared her to death. She had a feeling that Melissa had been the one to kill her mother despite the police reports saying it was an accident on the road.

Sam couldn't deal with anything. She just couldn't. She needed to forget. She needed to let go. There was only one way to forget, at least for a little while.

Sam made her way to the park and looked around. Sam approached the guy in a red baseball cap.

"Do you have the money?"

Sam nods her head and pulled it out. Sam exchanged her money for the vile on the man's hand.

Sam just needed to forget.

* * *

**A/N: I hadn't originally planned to go this way with this chapter, but I think it adds just a bit more drama. What do you all think?**


	27. Missing

**A/N: I had a hard time writing this chapter because I'm not exactly sure what I wanted to write, but here is what I got so far and I hope you enjoy it.**

**And yes, you will get an update for I Need You Now tonight. Hope you are excited!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Missing**

The soon to be Baker household was full with Julian and Brooke's friends. They were all gathered around waiting to take orders from Julian who was worried for his little girl.

Julian and Brooke had went to bed early last night knowing that Sam would be just fine, only to wake up this morning and it had appeared that Sam had not been home.

"Is there anywhere else that you would like us to check?" Haley questions her friend with a sad expression. It appeared that Brooke and Julian were handling the situation well. Haley knew what it had been like to have a missing child and for those few short hours she was a wreck. Deep down she knew Brooke and Julian were barely keeping it together.

Brooke wipes her tears and shakes her head when she realizes that Julian was not going respond to Haley.

"No, you've done enough. You've searched everywhere. It's okay, we got it from here."

Julian gets up from his seat on the couch and walks outside. He hated feeling like this. He hated all of it. He had no idea where his daughter was. Sam was not answering her phone and Julian was now truly worried about her.

Julian pulled out his phone and dialed a number as past memories flooded through his mind.

**-WLOM-**

_Sara and Julian were sitting in the Bryce kitchen talking about their daughter. Lately, she hadn't been herself and it was scaring both parents. _

"_I feel like a failure," Sara whispers as she looks at the granite counter top. "I hate feeling like this Julian. I don't even know what is going on with my own child."_

"_Sara, it's not just you, okay?" Julian shrugs his shoulders sadly. "I don't know what is going on with her either. I turned down that movie offer because I needed to know that my daughter, whatever she is going through, that she was going to be okay. I don't want to leave her like this."_

_Sara smiles kindly at her ex. From the start, Julian had been a great father. If his daughter really needed him he would drop everything just to fly away from his job to see her. _

"_You're a good father Julian. You're better then my father is and you're better than your father is. But I'm beginning to think that maybe Samantha is just going through that awkward start of a teenage year's stage."_

"_It's possible."_

_The phone rings and Sara gets up to answer it._

"_Bryce residence, Sara speaking…yes, this is she…"_

_Julian watches as his ex's facial features change dramatically._

"_I'll be there right away," Sara stated quickly before hanging up the phone and turning her attention to Julian. "We have to go NOW! Sam was just brought into the hospital."_

_Julian is at his feet in an instant._

"_Did they tell you why?"_

_Sara shook her head._

"_They wouldn't tell me over the phone."_

"_Let's go!"_

_It didn't take long for them to reach the hospital with Julian breaking every road law known to man._

_Julian and Sara rush to the front desk out of breath from running from the parking lot._

"_My name is Sara Bryce and someone from this hospital called me to tell me that my daughter Samantha Baker was brought in here. Can anyone tell me what is going on?"_

"_I'll page the doctor for you."_

**-WLOM-**

"Why don't you guys go on home? If we hear anything, we'll give you a call. I promise," Brooke says as she stands up from the couch.

Haley looks towards Peyton and they both stand up from their chairs.

"I'm going to look some more before heading home. If I find her, I'll give you all a call."

Brooke smiles and nods her head to Peyton.

"Thanks. I'm going to go check on Julian."

Brooke leaves Haley and Peyton in the house. Haley turns her attention to Peyton.

"Would you have any idea on where she would be?"

Peyton shrugs her shoulders.

"No, I wouldn't be sure, but from what Brooke had told us of Sam's past and what I already know, right now then I have a possible idea, but I have to go alone. You wouldn't understand," Peyton explains gently before grabbing her jacket and walking towards the door.

"I hope you find her Peyton, but being a fifteen year old teenage girl, she may not want to be found."

** -WLOM-**

"_Drugs?" Julian asks in disbelief. "My daughter had a drug overdose. Is that what you are trying to tell me?"_

"_The results are there Mr. Baker. Samantha came in because of a drug overdose. We ran the tests and it's confirmed that her apparent drug overdose was from Cocaine. We did all the necessary procedures and she is going to be fine. I suggest you get her some help though."_

"_My daughter is not a drug addict!" Julian shouts._

_Sara had walked away from Julian and into the room where her daughter was sleeping in the hospital bed with tubes and wires were sticking everywhere._

"_Drugs," Sara whispers as she shakes her head. "Why drugs?"_

_After talking with the doctor Julian found his way into his daughter's hospital room and his eyes were instantly in tears._

"_I didn't know. How did I not know?" Julian cried as he fell into the chair._

"_I didn't know either," Sara whispers with a sniffle. "I didn't either."_

**-WLOM-**

"I'll let you know when we find her Kadyn…yeah, I know. I'm worried about that as well," Julian turns around when he hears the door open. "Ahem, yeah. I'll talk to you soon. Alright, bye."

Julian closes his phone and sighs loudly.

"I have a bad feeling Brooke. I have a really bad feeling."

Brooke settles into her fiancé's lap.

"As long as Sam knows we are here for her then everything will be fine. We can get through this Julian. I promise you that."

**-WLOM-**

Peyton had walked to her spot under the bridge where she and Brooke would spend most of their time when they were little. She wasn't surprised to see Sam sitting there appearing lost. As Peyton closer she noticed something lying on the ground next to Sam and she sighed. It was a coke vial and it appeared empty. Everything in her wanted to throttle the girl because no matter what was going on, drugs were never the answer, but she wanted to know how the girl was.

"Samantha," Peyton said gently as she sat down next to the girl. "You have everyone worried sick. Look at me please."

Sam turned to look at Peyton and even though Peyton could see her dilated pupils, it wasn't that, that worried her. It was the bruising around Sam's neck.

"What happened to your neck?"


	28. Rollercoaster of Emotions

**A/N: I feel like things are starting to wrap up a little bit with this story so it will be ending soon here. Questions will be answered more as the remaining chapters are written. I have no clear, clear ending for this story, but it might come up soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologize for it being so short, but I'm currently battling keeping my eyes open at the moment so this is all you're going to get.**

**College started for me today so my updates for my stories won't always be updated on the scheduled time. I'm going to try and update one story a day and hopefully then people will be happy. Today I will be updating this story and next week I'll update I Need You Now. (I hope everyone understands what I mean). I have four classes this semester and I'm getting homework in all of them so my time is limited.**

**I don't want any of you to think that I have given up on my stories.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Rollercoaster of Emotions**

"Samantha, what happened to your neck?" Peyton asks one more time trying to get Sam to talk to her.

Sam shakes her head.

"No talking, I'm sleepy."

Peyton pulls Sam up.

"I don't think so girlie. I need to get you home and you need to explain to me what the hell happened to your neck."

Sam leans into Peyton and closes her eyes.

"She killed her," Sam whispers. "I hate Melissa."

Peyton stopped walking and looked Sam in the eye.

"Honey, what are you talking about? Did Melissa do this?"

"No more talking," Sam says with a yawn.

Knowing she wasn't going to get that far, Peyton picks Sam up in her arms and carries her to her car.

**-WLOM-**

Brooke hangs up her phone and sighs. She looks at Julian's worn-out look and sighs.

"That was Peyton," Julian looks at Brooke with tears in his eyes. "She's sleeping now, but Peyton says it's because she's coming down from her high." Brooke watches as Julian gets up and starts pacing the floor. "She's also got a bruise on her neck. Apparently somebody hurt her, but Sam wasn't coherent enough to tell her."

"I can't do this again," Julian utters. "I hated doing it the first time. I can't do this again Brooke. She's my little girl, but I can't do this. I can't handle her."

Brooke rushes up to Julian and wraps him in a hug trying to comfort him.

"You can't talk like that Julian. You are all she has right now. We need to help her. If this drug thing is happening more than once, then we get her treatment. We will be there for her. If there is anything else going on then we have to try and help her with that too, but don't you dare give up on her!"

"Sara was always better at this," Julian admits as he pulls away from Brooke. "She was always the disciplinarian. I was only there part time. I'm not Sara and it kills me that I'm not like her because then maybe Sam wouldn't be acting like she is right now. I failed fatherhood."

"Julian, you can't fail fatherhood. You've done more than enough to make up for the time you were gone. Let's not worry about it right now. Let's get Sam's room ready for when she gets her and let her sleep off her high and then we can have a long conversation."

Julian relents and follows his fiancé into his daughter's room.

**-WLOM-**

Julian closed the door to his daughter's room and walked into the living room where Brooke and Peyton were talking quietly. Peyton had arrived at the house a few minutes ago with Sam in her arms and all Julian could do was take his daughter from Peyton's arms and put her to bed. His little girl was high and the bruising around her neck made him really pissed off and he wanted to know what the hell happened yesterday for her to be like that.

"What do you know Peyton?" Julian demanded to know as Peyton and Brooke stopped talking.

"She kept muttering that she killed her, but I don't know who _she _or _her_ is."

"This is so frustrating! I want to know what the hell happened to my daughter!"

"Julian, has she told you about a face from the past that ended up being her teacher?" Peyton asks carefully. She didn't know if Sam had told her father yet or not.

"What are you talking about?" Julian questions with a furrowed eyebrow.

"Melissa is Sam's teacher and she's been giving her a hard time."

"She shouldn't be allowed to teach that abusive bitch," Julian says harshly.

Brooke looks at Julian in surprise. She had never really heard those words from Julian before. She didn't know what to feel at the moment. Her emotions were everywhere.

"I think the only answers you are going to get are from your daughter and you won't get that until her high goes away."

Julian sits down on the couch and closes his eyes in defeat.

"Thanks for finding her Peyton. We've got it from here."

Peyton stands up from her spot and nods her head.

"Fill me in on the situation later, will you?"

Brooke nods her head and Peyton leaves the house. Julian turns to Brooke.

"How do I help her?" Julian asks in defeat.

That was a question that Brooke had no answer to.


	29. Interlude Two: My Baby is Growing Up

**A/N: So I attempted to write a normal chapter for this story, but I kept getting stuck after each paragraph or whatnot so I'm going to take the break to come up with a better chapter for you all. Until then I hope you enjoy this Interlude in the meantime. Again I apologize that I have not given you a "real" chapter. I'm still deciding on what I want to do with it.**

* * *

**Interlude Two: My Baby is Growing Up**

Sara walks around her kitchen shaking her head.

"I don't like this at all. Nope, this is not going to happen. She's my little girl. Nope no way is she leaving me."

Julian sat in a chair sipping orange juice as he watches his ex putter around the kitchen. He thought that this was really interesting. Never before had Sara showed any emotion like this. He was as calm as could be.

But today was a memory worth remembering. It was Sam's first day of kindergarten. Sara didn't like it, but Julian knew Sam had to go so he didn't mind. It was a plus to see Sara not her usually calm.

"Sara calm down. Sam is only going to be gone for a few hours. It's not a big deal."

Sara turns to Julian with a glare.

"Our daughter has spent every day with me and now she has to go off and not spend the day with me. I don't like it. School sucks."

Julian chuckles and shakes his head.

"I'm going to go wake up our daughter," Julian says as he walks out of the kitchen.

Sara takes a seat at the table with a huff. She didn't like this day one bit.

###########

"Mommy!" Sam screams as she runs through the house with two shirts in her hand. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

Sara runs out of the kitchen and stops Sam from falling down and hurting herself.

"I'm right here sweetie, what's the matter?"

"What shirt?" Sam asks as she holds up both of them into her other's face.

One shirt was plan black and another one was pink and had a rainbow on it.

"Well I don't know sweetie. You are the one that is going to have to wear it."

Sam's lip starts to quiver.

"I-I-I can't choose."

Sara wraps her arms around her daughter. Sam was just so adorable sometimes.

"Alright, well let's go with the black shirt. It will go well with your jean skirt."

Sam grins and hugs her mom tightly.

"Thank you mommy."

"You're welcome sweetheart. Where is your daddy?"

"Getting my bag. It's almost time to go," Sam says before quickly pulling off her nightshirt and putting on her black one.

Sara fixes her daughter's hair, mumbling quietly.

"Don't remind me."

############

Sara buckles her daughter into the seat and gets into her own. Julian was sitting in the passenger seat with a small smile on his face. Sara looks at her ex with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Our daughter is going to school. I love school. I wonder if she will be a whiz at math like me."

"It's kindergarten," Sara deadpans. "The most she's going to do is play and take a nap."

"Then why are you so freaked out by her leaving."

Sara frowns.

"Shut up."

Sam gasps in the backseat.

"Mommy shut up is a bad word."

Sara looks in the rearview mirror.

"Sorry baby, mommy will be better next time."

"Okay," Sam responds with a smile. She couldn't wait until school starts. She was going to make a bunch of friends and she was going to be a big girl and not a baby like her daddy always says.

##############

Sara, Julian and Sam got out of the car and Sara held her hand out for Sam to take, but when Sam didn't take it she turned around and was heartbroken at what she saw. Sam was sitting on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest. She looked scared.

"Julian," Sara says to get his attention.

Julian looks at Sara and then to his daughter. Julian nods his head and he and Sara kneel down next to their daughter.

"Baby, what's the matter?"

Sam frowned at her daddy's words. She wasn't a baby, but she stayed quiet.

"Sammy, look at me honey," Sara says in a soothing voice. Sam looks into her mother's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I'm scared," Sam whispers.

"I know you are sweetheart, but you are going to be just fine and your daddy and I will be here to pick you up at the moment school ends."

"You promise," Sam asks with a sniffle.

Sara laughs and nods her head while she opens her arms.

"Of course."

Sam climbs into her mother's arms and rests her head on her shoulder.

"Will you be lonely mommy?"

"Yes," Sara responds honestly as she stands up. Julian doing the same. "But it's not very long. I think I can handle being away from you for a few hours."

"Okay," Sam responds quietly.

Sara grabs onto Julian's hand and they walk inside the school to drop their daughter off for her first day of kindergarten. Sam was definitely growing up; growing up into what was everyone's question.


	30. It's Not Ending Well

**A/N: Sorry, it's been so long since I updated this and I'm sure that have a lot of these apologizes in my notes, but I got stuck and then I in this chapter I leave you with a cliff hanger. I suck, get over it.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: It's not ending well**

Sam sat up in bed and yawned. She looks around the room and sighs. She felt like crap. She remembered feeling like this after she came off of her very first high. After having the aching feeling that Melissa had killed her mom, all Sam wanted to do was forget about it. The drugs helped with that. Now that she had a clear head she knew she couldn't forget what had brought her to this point, the truth about her mother.

Sam knew that walking out of her bedroom she was going right into the lion's den, but she had no choice. She was hungry.

Sam opens her bedroom door and walks out. She spots Julian and Brooke sitting at the table looking at her. Sam ignores them and heads to the fridge to get milk for cereal. Her stomach was growling.

"Do you have anything to say?" Julian asks in an icy tone.

Sam ignores him and continues to do what she was doing.

"Sam, you scared us. Please sit down and talk to your father."

Sam sits down at the table with a bowl, cereal box and milk. A spoon was in her mouth. Sam continues to ignore the both of them.

"You told me to never do this again. Drugs, Samantha, what the hell were you thinking? You could have died."

Sam glances at her father.

"How long has this been going on?" Julian asks in a calmer voice.

Brooke sits in her seat worried about what was going to happen. Sam starts eating her cereal. Julian gets up from the table and storms out of the house and slams the door behind him.

Brooke decides to take initiative and see what is going on with her soon to be step daughter.

"I've never seen him like that before. He was so scared. We both were and then Peyton brings you home and he knew you were high. I didn't see it. I can't understand why I missed it," Sam looks up. "The point is you scared him and all he wants is some answers. I mean why would anyone want to get high anyway?"

"To forget, to be numb," Sam states in a scratchy voice. "I needed to forget. It was the only way to forget."

"Forget about what?" Brooke asks concerned when she sees tears roll down her eyes.

"She killed my mom."

**-WLOM-**

"I don't understand that girl. I really don't," Julian complains in a huff. "I mean, who does she think she is, ignoring me like that."

"She sounds like Sara."

Julian looks at Peyton annoyed. After storming out of his house he had only one destination in mind and that was to the Older Scott's house. He needed to see Peyton. Besides himself and Sara, Peyton was the only other person who knew the real Sam. He wanted perspective on his daughter's life.

"I know she does and it just bugs the crap out of me. I mean I love Sara, I really do, but she's gone and Sam is all I have left of that particular past. If Sara were here she would know what to do."

"Maybe instead of coming up with something on your own you should try to put yourself in Sara's shoes. If she was alive and she had found out that Sam had done drugs, what would Sara do?"

"She'd put Sam in a program. Sara was clear on that the first time this happened that if it happened again, Sam wasn't going to like the outcome. I just, I don't want to be the bad guy here."

Peyton places a hand on the arm of her friend.

"You're not the bad guy Julian. You're being a father and that's what Sam needs right now. I don't know what's going on with that girl, but it's really starting to freak me out. This isn't the Sam we know. This Sam seems lost and I don't know what to do for her, but you're her father. You need to figure it out Julian or going to lose her."

**-WLOM-**

After her brief talk with Brooke, Sam retreated back to the bedroom. She didn't feel good and she needed to lie down. In the meantime, Brooke was waiting for Julian to show up. She had no idea what to do with the information that Sam had given her. She didn't know if it was true. She didn't know if she could trust that Sam's information was right. Julian would no more than her.

Julian walked through the door and spotted Brooke pacing the room.

"Brooke, what's going on?"

Brooke stops and faces Julian.

"You know Melissa pretty well right?"

Julian scoffs.

"I thought I did until I learned she hit my daughter."

"Is she capable of committing murder?"

Julian furrows his eyebrows.

"I don't know. Brooke, what are you trying to get at?"

"Sam says the reason that she turned to drugs was so she could forget. Melissa had implied to Sam that Sara's accident might not have been an accident after all."

**-WLOM-**

She knew this was stupid, but she hadn't got enough the first time. The pain was still evident and she wanted it erased from herself and this was the only way she knew how.

"Double the price, double the quantity."

Sam hands over her money and she gets a few vials in return. She would enjoy those a little later.

**-WLOM-**

With a little coaxing from the principal, Julian was able to locate Melissa's home. Brooke telling him that Melissa was responsible for Sara's death just about broke his heart. Sam's mom died because of him and he wasn't going to get over that so quickly.

Julian knocks on the door hard. Melissa answers with a huge smile.

"Julian, what a surprise?"

"Cut the crap, Melissa."

"That's no way to talk to me Mr. Baker."

"I don't care. I just need you to answer me this one question," Melissa sighs in boredom. "Did you kill Sara?"


	31. World on Your Shoulders

**A/N: My author's notes seem to say the exact same thing. I have no excuses except for real life getting in the way of my writing. It's hard sometimes, but I did write half of this chapter last week so I was writing. I just never got it finished, until today.**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: World on Your Shoulders**

Julian knocks on the door hard. Melissa answers with a huge smile.

"Julian, what a surprise?"

"Cut the crap, Melissa."

"That's no way to talk to me Mr. Baker."

"I don't care. I just need you to answer me this one question," Melissa sighs in boredom. "Did you kill Sara?"

"Why would I answer that question, Julian? Why would I know anything about Sara?"

"The only reason I can think of why you won't answer is because you are guilty of something and I swear to god if it's true Melissa. You are going to wish you haven't been born."

Melissa starts laughing and shakes her head before slamming the door in Julian's face. Julian turns away in a huff. He needed to get to the bottom of this. Julian walks down the stairs and pulls out his phone.

"Kadyn, we really need to talk."

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Are you serious?" Kadyn asks as she sits on the couch not wanting to believe what Julian was saying to her. "This doesn't sound right at all."

"_Yeah well I'm not exactly sure of anything anymore. Plus things are bad with Sam right now."_

"What's wrong with Sam?"

"_I can handle it Kadyn. I'm her father."_

"You didn't answer my question Julian."

"_Sam's doing drugs."_

"I'm coming to Tree Hill. Julian it sounds like you can't handle things over there. Maybe Sam needs to see a familiar face that isn't you."

"_No, I need you to talk to the police that handled Sara's case. Try and get it reopened or something. I need to know if Melissa is behind all of this."_

"Fine, I'll do that, but then I am coming to Tree Hill. Sam needs a good ass whopping."

"_Thanks Kadyn."_

"No don't thank me yet Julian. I'm going to yell at you too."

Kadyn hangs up the phone and her head falls into her hands. She couldn't believe that this was happening. How did their lives get so screwed up? Sara died in a car accident only now it seems like it was murder and Sam had turned into a druggy. None of this was going well.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"I'm lost Peyton. I don't know what the hell I should be doing. Julian's going crazy. Sam's into drugs. I am barely keeping my head above the water. I'm not equipped for situations like this."

"It's all a part of being mom, Brooke."

Brooke throws her hands up in the air.

"You keep saying that Peyton. You have no idea what I am going through right now!"

Peyton stares at Brooke incredulously.

"Excuse me? Are you forgetting that I was around Sam for two years before you even met her?"

Sam walks into the house with a yawn and Peyton and Brooke stop arguing with each other. Instead, they turn their angry glares to Sam.

"Where the hell have you been?" Peyton yells angrily.

Sam looks up from her shoes and shrugs her shoulders.

"I can't remember," Sam says as she makes her way to the couch and lies down.

"Are you high again?" Brooke questions softly, worried about her soon to be step daughter.

Sam doesn't answer. Brooke and Peyton hear a snore from the teen girl.

Peyton and Brooke look up from the girl and then to each other.

"She needs help," Brooke states.

"I know," Peyton agrees.

**-What's Left of Me-**

Julian walks into the house and sees his daughter sleeping on the couch. He shakes his head and walks into the kitchen to where Peyton and Brooke were talking quietly. Their blow up before had been forgotten.

"I thought she was in her room," Julian mentions.

"She wasn't apparently. She came home high again though."

Julian shakes his head at Brooke.

"Things are going to change soon. I talked to Melissa though."

Brooke and Peyton's heads snapped up.

"I think she did it," Julian says seriously. "I think she really did kill Sara. I called Kadyn. I told her to try and get Sara's case reopened and I told her about Sam's problems. She said she's coming. Besides Sara, Kadyn was the other constant in her life. I think maybe she can help."

"How do you think Sam is going to handle that?" Peyton questions as her gaze goes to the sleeping girl on the couch.

"I don't really care what Sam thinks. She put herself in that position and I just don't care. I've had enough. This is it. I'm done," Julian declares before walking out of the kitchen and into his room.

"He's upset," Peyton states.

"You think."

**-What's Left of Me-**

Julian lies on his bed with a sigh. His emotions were all over the place and he honestly had no idea what to do anymore. He didn't want to give up, but he knew that if he was going to make things right that it was going to be extremely hard to do so. He knew that Sam had a problem and more than likely she was going to have to go into some program. If Melissa had really murdered Sara then it was going to be hell to prove it, but Julian owed it to everyone to find out. He just didn't know why everything seemed to suddenly land all on his shoulders.


	32. Plan in Action

**A/N: Wow, an actual update from me. I know its weird right? I just wanted to explain some things to you, readers quickly about my absence. There were multiple reasons as to why I haven't been updating this story along with some of my others. I have been incredibly busy. No lie. My first semester of college is coming to an end. I have one final on Monday and I have been preparing for that along with working on final work for my other classes. I just couldn't focus on writing some of my stories. Another reason was because I couldn't get inspiration for my stories. I would get ideas for one, but not another and sometimes I would come up with nothing at all so I've been absent and I apologize. On the other hand, after Monday I will officially have almost a month off until my second semester starts to that's more time to write. Hopefully then my stories will be updated on a regular basis.**

**I apologize for this long ass author's note, but I wanted you all to know. This chapter sets up a big part of this story. I'm still trying to plan out some of it. I'm getting a few ideas here and there, but the next chapter will I think probably be the climax of this story. I don't know how much longer I can keep it going, but I'm going to try for you lovely fans.**

**Anything you particularly want to see? **

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: Plan in Action**

"The last thing the police told me before I left was that they were going to look into. It feels like ever since Sara died things have been hell on this family and I don't know what to do about it anymore," explained Kadyn as she picked up her coffee mug.

She had been in Tree Hill for a few hours and Sam was knocked out cold in her bed. Julian had brought his daughter in there some hours ago. Brooke and Julian were sitting across from Kadyn.

"She was everybody's glue," Julian mentions. "I really want to know the truth, but that's not what we need to discuss right now. Right now, my sixteen year old daughter is strung out on drugs and I don't see her stopping anytime soon. As far as I know she just started doing drugs again, but everyone says it only takes one time to become an addict."

"Does that mean we send her to a drug treatment program?" Brooke asks.

"As much as I don't like it, I think maybe it's what Sam needs. I say we nip this problem in the bud early instead of later to where it could be a major problem."

Julian and Brooke turn to Kadyn.

"I love my niece and I don't want to see her go down that road. It isn't good for anybody. She could be using the drugs to escape what she's feeling who knows? Could therapy help here? Maybe, but you have to ask yourself if therapy is enough. I don't think it is. I don't think she really dealt with Sara's death. Even my daughter is having a hard time with it."

Julian turns to his fiancé with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What do you think? Should we send her to one?"

Brooke looks absolutely blown. She wasn't sure how to handle this situation. This whole mom thing was really weird and she didn't want to overstep her boundaries.

"Julian, you can't ask me that. I don't really have a say in the matter."

"Of course you do. You are going to be my wife and Sam is going to be your daughter. Normally the person that I would ask this would be Sara and she's gone so all I have is you. What's your opinion?"

Brooke looks towards Kadyn who nods her head silently telling her to go on.

"She needs help. I could see this getting really bad. Nathan's mom was a pill popper. My ex friend Rachel was a druggy. I walked into my old New York apartment one day and she was there on the ground. Her lips were blue. She overdosed. I got her help right away and the doctors said that any longer she would've died. I don't want to see Sam like that," Brooke says with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't handle it."

"I'll start looking into some programs. She can't fight it because she's under eighteen so we check her in we have to check her out," Julian says as he walks into his bedroom in search of his laptop leaving Kadyn and Brooke alone to talk.

"Stop hesitating on giving your opinion about Sam," Kadyn states quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"You won't be overstepping your boundaries. My sister was a very easy person to get along with. She liked Peyton and she liked you which was why she met you in the first place. She's very protective of Sam and she knew that you were a good match for Julian because you care about his kid. You are going to be a great mom. Stop being afraid, I don't want to have to tell you again."

Brooke smiles softly at Kadyn.

**-What's Left of Me-**

A woman and a man sat across from each other at a park bench. The man places the photos he was looking at back into a manila folder.

"This is going to grow some major attention. I'm not sure I could handle it."

"You have to. I'm paying you enough to handle it."

The man nods his head.

"That maybe true, but the cops will go after you. You would be their prime suspect if I do what you are telling me to."

Melissa smiles.

"Yes and when they realize that I have no idea where that girl is, they will leave me alone and then they won't have any more solid leads. I'll be there to help mourn the loss of his daughter and then Julian and I will live happily ever after. It's as simple as that."

"There's just one problem with that logic."

Melissa glares at the man.

"And what is that?"

"Brooke Davis. Julian Baker is in love with her. What do you expect me to do to her?"

"Kidnap her, kill her or keep her as your sex slave. I don't care. Just make sure that she and Sam disappear and everything will be okay. I can handle the rest."

"If I do this, I want double my asking price."

Melissa grunts in frustration.

"Fine, we have a deal Xavier. Just make sure you don't screw up or I'll kill you."

Xavier smiles and shakes his head.

"You don't scare me."

Melissa leans forward in her chair.

"You should be. I can kill you and make it look like an accident. I've already done it once and got away with it. Do you want to make it twice?"

Xavier grunts and gets up from his chair. Melissa watches him walk away in anger with a smile on her face. Julian Baker was finally going to be hers.


	33. Masked Man

**A/N: And the story moves forward. I didn't get many reviews, but I hope you all are still enjoying the updates. I'm not sure if I really like this ending, but I don't have it in me to make any changes to it.**

**I will have updates for Whatever it Takes, I Need You Now and Defying Gravity tomorrow because I will be leaving tomorrow night and I don't want to wait until Monday to post them because that's how long I will be gone for.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One: Masked Man**

Sam knew when she opened her eyes that her day was going to be hell. She didn't feel like getting out of bed at all. She had finished her stash last night and was craving for more, but knew there was no way she was getting out of the house at least by herself.

Sam looks towards the door when she hears it open. Kadyn is standing there with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Get up!"

Sam sighs and slowly gets out of bed as Kadyn leaves the room. Sam quickly changes into sweats and a t-shirt and exits her room with a yawn. When entering the kitchen she sees the adults in her life looking at her.

"What?"

"We need to talk," Julian says. "Sit down."

Sam does as she was told and looked at the adults that loved her and that were scared for her. She knew the drugs had been a bad idea, but she just couldn't stand the fact that she was the reason that her mom was killed. If she had not been so mean when Melissa was with her father, her mother would still be alive. Sam looked at Brooke and frowned. That would also mean that her father would not have met Brooke and she didn't like that thought either. Her life was a mess.

"You need help. We know you need help and you won't ask for it. Drugs aren't like you Sam and you promised that the last time you would take drugs was when you were lying in that hospital bed."

Sam looks at her father, but doesn't say a word.

"Sam," Brooke calls to get her attention. Sam looks at her. "Your father and aunt and I have been talking and we think that maybe it would be the best if we get you into a treatment program."

"Your dad picked a nice one and I agree with the decision. You need help and we can't give that to you," Kadyn states with a frown. She didn't want to do this, but she knew she had to.

"It's in Wilmington and I've already called the director of the place. You'll be gone for a few months, but it's what you need."

"No," Sam whispers.

The adults turn their attention away from each other to focus on Sam.

"Excuse me?" Julian asks.

"No, I don't want to go anywhere. I am fine. I don't need help."

"I beg to differ," Julian says sternly. "This has gone on enough. I will not allow it to continue."

"Then I guess we are stuck," Sam retorts back with a raised eyebrow.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"What's the hold up now?" Melissa yells at Xavier.

"I don't know if I can do this. What you are asking me to do is going to be extremely hard and we may have another problem?"

"What problem is that?"

"Another adult is involved with the young one."

Melissa grabs the picture from Xavier's hand and sighs.

"Fuck. What the hell is she doing here?"

Xavier shrugs his shoulders.

"Look, I don't know why she's here and I really don't care, but she is one step in the plan that I didn't know we had. What are we going to do with her?"

"We have no time to come up with something. We have to do this right now otherwise nothing will happen and I don't accept that. Grab your shit, and let's go," Melissa orders sternly before walking out the front door.

"Crazy bitch," Xavier mutters.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Well, I'm sorry Samantha, but you have no say in the matter. Monday morning, we are going to Wilmington and that's final."

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this at all."

"That's just too damn bad," Julian retorts, his anger slowly showing. "You have disrespected this family in ways that I can't imagine just to get a high. Sweetheart, that's all about to change."

Sam shakes her head.

"I told you this wasn't going to happen. There is nothing you say or do that is going to change what I think or what I want dad. So leave it be."

Julian slams his hand on the counter in frustration, making everyone jump.

"This is not up for discussion. I'm done!"

Sam stood up from her chair and glared at her father.

"So am I!" Sam screams before storming out the front door.

"You guys stay here. Maybe it will help if she gets an outsiders opinion on this situation," Brooke offers before slowly making her way out of the house.

Julian sighed, his frustrations were showing.

"This would be easier if Sara was here."

Kadyn nods her head in agreement.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Sam! Stop please!" Brooke yells as she runs to the street where Sam was starting to walk away.

Sam stops and turns around.

"Whatever you are going to say, can you just save it? I get it okay. I get that you all want to help, but I don't need any help."

Brooke looks down at Sam's shaking hands and sighs.

"You're going through withdrawals. Sam, you need our help."

"Please, just stop," Sam cries. "I can't take this and I can't take you looking at me like that. Just stop!"

"Sam, look out!" Brooke grabs a hold of Sam's arm and drags her away from an incoming black van. The van screeches its tires as it comes to a stop. The doors to the back of the van open violently and a man in a mask comes out wielding a gun.

Sam and Brooke try and make a run for it, but a gunshot towards the ground make them stop.

"Do not make one move."

Brooke and Sam freeze as they look at the masked man in front of them. Sam looks at Brooke before making a run for it only to be stopped by the man picking her up off of the ground.

"SAM!" Brooke screams.

"SOMEONE HELP ME. DAD! HELP!" Sam struggles in the man's grasp.

Brooke runs forward to try and pry Sam away from the man.

"LET HER GO! JULIAN!"

Brooke gets a hold of the man's arm and Sam manages to get away. The man kicks Brooke and she lands on the ground. He pulls his gun out and pushes the trigger shooting Brooke.

Sam sees her dad and Kadyn running out of the house.

"DAD!"

"SAMANTHA!" Julian notices a body lying in the street. "BROOKE!"

Sam trips on her own feet and falls to the ground. The masked man quickly grabs her and shoves her in the van. He hops in quickly and the driver of the van drives away like a bat out of hell.

"SAMANTHA!" Kadyn screams as she reaches the street. She looks for the van, but can't find any sign of it.

Julian makes his way to Brooke and cries.

"Brooke, come on, wake up please," Julian pleads. "I need you to help me find Sam. Brooke, open your eyes."

Kadyn makes her way over to Julian.

"I'm going to call for an ambulance and get the cops involved right away Julian. We're going to get her back."

Julian nods his head and grasps Brooke's hand and cries until he hears the sirens of the ambulance coming.


	34. Falling Faster

**A/N: Here is another chapter for this story…I spent all of this last weekend writing it along with one of the newer stories that I have been working on (Which won't be posted until I'm finished or at least finished with three fourths of it). Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the drama in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Falling Faster **

"I can't believe this is happening to me."

Kadyn looks to Julian with sadness written all over his face. Julian was sitting in the waiting room while his fiancé fought for her life. On top of all that, his daughter was taken and he has no idea where she is. The police are doing all that they can, but sometimes it's never enough.

"We need to figure out where Melissa is. Chances are Sam is with her."

Julian turns towards Kadyn.

"But for how long? Kadyn, she killed your sister. God knows what she's going to do to Sam."

"I know, but I have to stay positive because if I don't I am going to think the worst and that's not what we need right now."

"I'm sorry," Julian apologizes. "I just want some good news for once."

**-What's Left of Me-**

Brown eyes snap open when they hear a door creak open, a small sliver of light shines in the room. Brown eyes looks around as best as it can. Owner of the brown eyes were strapped to a chair in what appeared to be a basement of sorts.

"You've been out for awhile, Sam. Welcome back."

Sam recognizes the voice immediately.

"Back to what?"

"Your personal hell," Melissa says with a laugh.

"You're not going to get away with this. Someone will find you and you'll rot in hell."

Melissa steps forward and pushes a strand of hair away from Sam's face to behind her ear. Sam flinches away.

"They are going to be too busy looking after Brooke to worry about you."

Sam struggles against her bindings.

"What did you do to Brooke? If you hurt her I swear to god I'm going to hurt you!"

Melissa sighs and walks away from Sam. She walks over to the other side of the room and pulls something out from the cupboard. Melissa then walks over to the light switch and turns on the light.

"You know, Sam. Drugs are such a bad habit and sometimes you just can't break it."

Sam watches Melissa fill a needle with some liquid in a vile.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Of course you do, druggie," Melissa makes her way over to Sam. "Get ready because you are going on a ride."

Melissa sticks the needle into Sam's arm.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Mr. Baker?"

Julian opens his eyes and looks at the detective he met early.

"Do you have any info on my daughter?"

"We checked out Melissa's house and we found a lot of things that we believe makes her the culprit of this crime. Unfortunately, Sam wasn't at her home so I believe that she has taken her to an unknown location."

"I could have done that. Nice detective work," Kadyn says sarcastically as she walks up to the pair and hands Julian a cup of hot chocolate. It was his go to comfort drink. Julian accepts it gratefully.

"How about you find out if Melissa killed my sister."

"That's another reason why I'm here. I can't get into specifics, but we believe that Sara did not die in a car accident, but that she was murdered by Melissa."

Julian squeezes Kadyn's hand.

"We are trying to locate your daughter, Mr. Baker. We are doing everything we can."

Julian looks at the detective and nods his head.

"Thank you," Julian states before seeing Brooke's doctor coming out of surgery. "Excuse me."

Both Julian and Kadyn quickly run up to the doctor.

"Is Brooke okay?"

The doctor twists his scrub cap before responding.

"There were some complications."

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Wakey, wakey."

Sam opens her eyes, but all she can see was blurriness. The drugs that had been injected in her arm hadn't passed through her system yet.

"Samantha, it's almost time baby, open your eyes for mommy."

"Mommy," Sam whispers.

"That's it," Melissa says with an evil grin. "Open those eyes."

Sam blinks her eyes open a few ties. When she sees Melissa she groans.

"Bitch," Sam bites out.

Melissa backhands her. Sam's head slams to the side. She spits out the blood.

"I would've been a great mom if only you would have listened to me. Your dad and I would have raised you and we would've been the perfect family. You could have been my little girl."

Melissa places her hands on her stomach and looks at Sam with tears in her eyes.

"I know you are upset that mommy lost the baby, but everything will be okay, Sammy."

Sam looks at Melissa like she had lost her mind. Maybe she had, but Sam wanted to see how far she could play this fantasy of Melissa's. If she played long enough she could get help.

"It's okay," Sam whispers. "Dad will understand. Things like that just happen. Everything will be okay. Bring me to dad and we can be a family again."

Melissa wipes away the tears and traces her finger down Sam's check in a way Sara had used to do.

"I did good with you."

"Yeah, untie me and we can go home," Sam pleads. "Let's go home."

Melissa shakes her head.

"Not yet," Melissa says as she walks away and goes to the cupboard. "You need your medicine."

"No!" Sam cried out. "I don't need that, please stop!"

Melissa returns to Sam's side with a needle.

"It's only going to hurt for a bit, baby."

"No, please!" Sam screams and struggles against the bindings while scraping her wrists and her ankles in the process. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It will only hurt for a bit," Melissa says before injecting Sam with another round of drugs.

**-What's Left of Me-**

Julian sits by Brooke's bedside as he watches his fiancé rest. His heart had just about stopped when the doctor had said that there were complications. Brooke's heart had stopped during surgery, but the surgeons were able to stabilize it. The bullet had nicked Brooke's heart. She was supposed to make a full recovery.

"I should be out looking for my daughter, but I have no idea where to look. I want Melissa dead, but I don't want to be that guy."

Julian takes in Brooke's face and he squeezes her hand.

"What am I going to do Brooke?"

There is a knock on Brooke's hospital room. Julian turns his head around. The detective was there again.

"I can't deal with this right now," Julian states sternly.

"You want to hear this, Mr. Baker. Your fiancés shooter was just apprehended and he may have word on where your daughter is."

Lying in the hospital bed, Brooke slowly opens her eyes.


	35. Barely Breathing

**A/N: So, I spent the last few hours writing this chapter even though my heart wasn't in it. I do think that this chapter is an okay chapter. I'm not really sure. Hope you like it anyway.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Barely Breathing**

"No more screwing around Daniels. You turned yourself in and now you are going to tell us what you know!"

Xavier scoffs and shakes his head.

"Look, how do I know that you won't pin what's happening to that girl on me?"

Detective Andrews looks at his partner and then back at Daniels.

"If you know what is going on, you have to tell us right now. We couldn't pin anything on you because you would have been in interrogation this whole time, but not telling us something you know we can charge you for."

"The chick's crazy, even for me. She kept talking about losing her baby and some shit, but she was never pregnant. She rented this house and she bought a shit of drugs. She didn't tell me much. All she said was that she was going to take care of her family."

"Where is the house located?"

**-What's Left of Me-**

"How are you feeling Miss Davis?"

Brooke looks up at her doctor and nods her head.

"I'm okay. I still hurt, but I'm more worried about my fiancé then anything."

"I just want to check your stitches and you can lean on me. I don't mind."

"I can't say, but I just have this feeling he is doing something incredible stupid right now. Our daughter was kidnapped and I'm stuck here and I just want to help him."

"I didn't know you had kids."

Brooke smiles kindly at her doctor.

"I don't. Samantha is his, but Julian and I are getting married and she's my step daughter."

"I've been there," Brooke looks at her doctor confused. "I married my wife who had three kids from a previous marriage. My relationship with the kids was rocky at first, but we're a family now."

"Do you have any of your own kids with her?"

The doctor grins as he writes something on his clipboard.

"They are my kids, but I have a feeling you mean biologically and yes, two actually, but in total I have five kids. Being a step dad or a step mom doesn't matter. It's just a term. It matters who you live up to that term."

**-What's Left of Me-**

"I just wanna go home," Sam cries out.

"No can do," Melissa states as she paces the basement floor.

Sam groans. Melissa was lucid which meant she was screwed. Sam couldn't take anything anymore. The drugs took a lot out of her. She hadn't had any in awhile and she knew there were starts of withdrawal coming on. The way that Melissa was looking at her, Sam knew that Melissa knew as well.

"What's the matter Sam? Do you need some more?" Melissa asks as she waves the vial of drugs in front of Sam's face.

Sam's lip quivered as she followed the movements. Melissa was such a bitch.

"It's time Sam," Melissa states as she fills a huge needle with more than one vial of drugs. "It's time to fix this world."

Sam tries to wiggle away from Melissa's approaching form, but considering that she was still strapped to a chair, she wasn't going anywhere. She caused the chair to tip over and she feel from to the ground still strapped to the chair.

"You just make it harder on yourself sweetheart."

Sam lets the tears fall down her face.

"I'll make sure your daddy doesn't forget you."

Sam cries louder as Melissa injects the needle into Sam's skin.

"I hate you."

Melissa pulls the needle away when it's empty.

"I hate you, too."

**-What's Left of Me-**

The doctors in the hospital were in a hurry. There were a number of victims coming in at the same time. Gurneys were ready. Doctors were getting ready. Nurses were on standby and operating rooms were getting set up. Doctor Lopez had just got done seeing Brooke when his pager was beeped. He was going to be needed.

"What do we have?"

"Samantha Baker, approximately sixteen years of age. Suffering from a drug overdose and a GSW to the leg. Pulse was weak, but it's still there. Barely."

"Get her to OR one. We can handle both. Be sensitive guys. She's a victim of kidnapping."

Doctor Lopez stayed to wait for the next to victims coming in. Doctor Lopez sees the EMT's walking in slowly with a gurney.

"What's the holdup, guys?"

"No pulse Doc. Went into cardiac arrest on the way here and we've been trying for over ten minutes. There was nothing. We just need you to call it."

"Who is it?" Lopez asks as he checks over the deceased to make sure they are actually dead.

"Melissa Harris, approximately 34 years old. GSW to the chest."

Doctor Lopez calls time of death before Melissa gets sent to the morgue.

"Detective Andrews, approximately 40 years old. GSW to the shoulder and he's responsive."

"I am 40 years old man. God this hurts like a bitch."

"Send him to OR 2 and prep for surgery. You're in good hands Detective."

Doctor Lopez sighs as Detective Andrews gets rolled away. He turns back to the doors when Julian walks through it. He had blood all over his clothes.

"Mr. Baker, are you alright? Are you injured?" Lopez asks as he looks over Julian.

"It's not my blood. It's not my blood." Julian says in a state of shock.

It had happened so fast. It just happened all so fast. He just couldn't believe it.

* * *

**A/N: I have no plans to include what actually happened, but if someone wants to take a crack at it and write it feel free. Just let me know if you want to. You'll have about two weeks to write it because that's when my next update is for this story. If not just let your imagination run free.**


	36. Give me something to believe in

**A/N: So I didn't update last week at all because my second semester started so I was busy getting used to my new classes, but I managed to get this chapter written in between classes today. I hope you like it and this chapter is written a little differently, but I got from a reviewer about showing what happened to Sam in the basement and this is what they had come up with.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Give me something to believe in**

Julian walks into Brooke's hospital room in his bloody clothes. Brooke is shocked when she spots him.

"Julian, what happened? Are you hurt?"

Julian shakes his head and slowly walks around the room. He didn't understand how things got so out of hand. Seeing his daughter on the ground and tied in a chair nearly broke him. Seeing Melissa standing over her had angered him. He didn't know how his life became such a mess. The only good part, to him, was Sam and Brooke. Now Sam was in surgery and Brooke was lying in a hospital bed injured.

"Julian Baker, you tell me what is going on right now! I can't get out of this bed."

Julian stops walking around and looks at the blood on his hands. There was just so much blood, his daughter's blood.

"So much blood," Julian whispers. "I've never seen that much blood before. In movies sure. Hell, I've worked with it, but never in my life have I seen that much real blood before."

Brooke was getting worried now. She had never seen Julian like this and she didn't know what to do about it, so, she just talked.

"Julian, take a breath and look at me." Brooke sees Julian eyeing her. "Whose blood is on your hands and all over your clothes?"

"Sam's. I found her."

Brooke winces in pain as she sits up straighter.

"Where is she? Is she okay?"

"She's in surgery. Melissa's dead and a detective was shot."

Julian continues to stare at his hands. He quickly stands up to head to Brooke's bathroom.

"I need to wash my hands."

Brooke felt helpless just sitting on the hospital bed. On one hand, Melissa was dead, but on the other hand, Samantha, the girl she thought of as her daughter was in surgery trying to hold onto her life.

Growing up, Brooke had never gone to church. Her family wasn't religious. All Brooke knew were the basics of what God was and what he does. Brooke never felt the need to believe in God then, but she does now.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Hang another unit of blood!"

"Doctor Hart, what's going on?" an intern from across the surgical room says

"Help me out here people. I can't find the bleeder."

The sound that no surgeon wants to heat comes from the machine.

"Damn it, get me a crash cart!"

The patient is quickly prepared.

"Paddles. Charge to 300, ready, 1, 2, and 3 clear!"

Doctor Hart places paddles on patient and shocks them. Doctor looks up at the monitor and breathes a sigh of relief.

"Alright Samantha, stay with me."

_Sam groans in pain as she opens her eye. Lying in this position was hell on her shoulder._

"_There you are, Sammy girl," Melissa says with a cackle._

"_You were supposed to kill me."_

_Melissa leaned down and looked at Sam who was still tied to the chair and lying on her side._

"_I changed my mind. I wanted to keep you alive a little longer."_

"_Goodie," Sam groans sarcastically. "You should just kill me."_

_Melissa kicks Sam in the stomach and Sam cries out._

"_Shut up!"_

**-What's Left of Me-**

"I got you some coffee."

Peyton looks up at Lucas and smiles as she takes the cup from him. If anyone hated hospitals it would be Peyton. She's been in the hospital so many times it's like it's a second home for her.

The first time she was in the hospital was her birth.

The second time, she had gotten a severe case of the chicken pox when she was five and had to be hospitalized.

The third time was when she was eight. Her mother had died.

The fourth time, Lucas was in a car accident.

The fifth time, Nathan had been in an accident.

And many more times after that, but now here she was because Sam and her best friend where in the hospital and she knew they needed her support.

"They're going to be fine Peyton," Lucas reassures his girl.

"You don't know that Lucas. Sam was shot and drugged for two days. Who knows what that did to her system? Who knows if she will even make it out of surgery?"

"Peyton, you can't think like that. You have to believe that there are higher powers out there that will save Sam."

Peyton turns to Lucas with an unrecognizable expression.

"Can you honestly believe that? Is that what you told yourself when you were waiting on news about Keith?"

Lucas shakes his head.

"No, but that was only because he had been pronounced dead on arrival. That's what I thought of when you were in surgery. I had to believe in something Peyton, otherwise I would've had a breakdown."

"We all would have."

Peyton and Lucas turn to see Haley walking towards them. Haley takes a seat next to Peyton.

"Is there any news?"

Peyton shakes her head.

"I don't know and I can't get a hold of Kadyn either. Julian talked to her last and told her about Sam, but other than that I have no idea where she is or what she's doing."

"She's probably talking to her daughter. Sam's best friend and cousin," Haley responds.

"How do you know so much about Sam's life?" Peyton asks with a slight smile.

"She tells me things," Haley smiles back. "I told Jamie that I would call him when I had any news."

"No news, sorry."

Haley nods her head and looks around the waiting room. God she hated hospitals.

**-What's Left of Me-**

"She's flat lining. Damn it Samantha. Get me the crash cart and charge to 300. Clear!"

Doctor Hart looks up at the monitor and sighs.

"Charge to 360."

"Charged!"

"Clear!"

_Julian slowly walks down the stairs to the basement in the house that Melissa used to talk about. He had been surprised when he had first met Melissa and she had said that she lived a few miles out of Tree Hill despite living in California for a few years. Julian stops when he hears the voices or rather his daughter's pleas._

"_Just kill me. Just kill me, please," Sam pleads. "I can't take it anymore. I can't t-think!"_

_Melissa takes a glance towards the stairs and chuckles. She knew someone was standing on the stairs. Melissa heads over to the cupboard and pulls out a gun._

"_Come on out, whoever you are."_

_Sam opens her eyes when she spots someone step foot at the end of the stairs._

"_Daddy!" Sam cries._

"_Samantha!"_

_Julian rushes forward, but the sound of a gun clicking makes him stop._

"_Take one more step and I shoot her," Melissa warns._

_Julian freezes._

"_Daddy, don't listen to her, get me out of here. She's crazy."_

_Julian glances at his daughter and back at Melissa or rather the gun in her hands. Making a split decision, Julian decides to go for it. He takes a step towards Sam, but the gun goes off and Sam let's out an ear piercing scream. Melissa had shot her in the leg._

"_I told you not to move," Melissa says slowly._

_Melissa turns to the gun towards Julian._

"_FREEZE!"_

_Melissa had been to wrapped up with Julian and Sam that she hadn't noticed a detective make their way downstairs._

"_Make one step and I shoot her again!" _

_Sam whimpered._

"_You're not getting out of this Melissa. It's time to give it up."_

_Melissa shrugs her shoulders. _

"_I figure either way I won't get out of this so why not hurt a few people in the process," Melissa takes another shot at Sam hoping to hit her, but not really being sure. _

_The detective takes his shot the same time that Melissa points the gun at him. Bullets whiz through the air and both fall to the ground._

"Charge again!"

"Clear!"

Doctor Hart shocks Sam and looks back at the monitor. It was still flat line.

"What's your plan Doctor Hart?"

Doctor Hart looks at everyone in the room and then down at Sam. He shakes his head and sighs.

"I'm calling it."

"_Samantha, what are you doing?"_

_Sam turns around and shrugs her shoulders._

"_I don't know."_

"_You should be back there. Why are you hiding in here?"_

"_It's easier. I was such a mess and here I don't feel like that."_

"_Samantha, you are stuck between life and death, you're not supposed to feel anything. It helps with the transition."_

_Sam raises an eyebrow at the woman standing next to her._

"_Why can't I stay?"_

"_You don't belong here."_

_Sam glares at the woman._

"_Neither do you!"_

_The woman purses her lips and nods her head._

"_But I'm not the one who is stuck. I've made my peace and I'm better for it. I just worry about you. Samantha Baker, you do not belong here so let go and be free."_

"_I'm scared," Sam cries._

_The woman wraps Sam up in her arms and rubs her back soothingly._

"_I know, sweetie, but I have it on good authority that you are going to be just fine."_

_Sam pulls away confused._

"_What's your authority?"_

_The woman grins._

"_I can't tell you that. Now, wake up sweetie. Everyone's worried about you."_

"_I miss you, mom."_

"_I miss you, too, but I'm never far away. All you have to do is think about me and I'm there. Now wake up!"_

**-What's Left of Me-**

Sam's open slowly and moves her head to the side.

"Julian, she's awake."

Julian moves from the window and looks at her daughter.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?"

"Like I was shot," Sam whispers. Sam looks towards Brooke who had been released from the hospital a few days ago. "You're alive. That's good."

Brooke smiles and moves a few pieces of Sam's hair away from her face.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine."

Julian sits down on the edge of Sam's hospital bed carefully.

"Honey, what do you remember?"

Sam tries to think about it, but just gives up.

"I can't remember anything. How long was I out for?"

Julian looks at Brooke who nods her head. Julian turns to his daughter.

"When you were in surgery there were a few complications and your heart stopped a few times. The EMT's missed the bullet wound to your upper chest. The doctors found out as soon as you were in surgery. You lost a lot of blood, but the doctors managed to save you. You've been unconscious for three days. We were starting to get worried."

"I'm tired," Sam says before closing her eyes again.

Soon a soft snore was heard in the room. Julian turns his attention to Brooke.

"She's okay."

Brooke smiles.

"She's okay."

"What happens next?" Julian asks Brooke.

Brooke thought that was a really good question.

What happens next?

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This story is coming to an end soon so I'm happy that you have all decided to take this journey with me.**

**Despite all the promises that I have made I have a new story, but get this, it's NOT One Tree Hill, crazy right? Actually it's the story idea that I have had on my profile for awhile and I decided to sit down and actually write it…so for all you Life Unexpected fans out there you should really check it out…it's entitled Life is Beautiful.**


	37. A Year Later

**A/N: Sorry that this wasn't up yesterday. It's important that all of you read the authors note at the end of this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five: A Year Later**

"All of you are here for one reason and that reason is to get better. We've all had stuff happen to us. You are all here for help. Addiction is a disease and with a little help you can beat this. Before group started I received a volunteer that wanted to talk to all of you newcomers. She hasn't been part of this group, but a colleague of mine says she has a really interesting story to tell. I would like her to come up here and have her introduce herself."

In the front seat of the group, Samantha Baker stands up from the chair and walks to the podium. She had gotten used to talking in front of people. She had been doing it for the past year.

"My name is Sam."

"Hi Sam," the group responds.

"I'm 18 and I'm an addict. One year ago today I started my journey of sobriety. I was lying in a hospital bed with two gunshot wounds when I told me parents I needed help."

_**A Year Ago**_

_Sam's recovery had been going well. She was still restricted to bed rest in the hospital because doctors had been worried about her heart. The detective that had been shot would be making a full recovery. Sam had gone through withdrawal and now she was going stir crazy. _

_Julian walked into Sam's room and sat down in the nearby chair._

"_Brooke and I set a date for the wedding."_

_Sam looks at her dad and nods her head._

"_Brooke's on her way up. She's just getting checked out by the doctor."_

_Sam's eyes looked everywhere, but at her father. Julian could tell something was wrong with his daughter._

"_Sam, are you upset that you have to spend your 17__th__ birthday here?"_

"_It's whatever."_

_All Sam could think of was drugs. She needed them and she knew it was wrong. Julian sighs as Brooke walks into the room with a smile._

"_What are we talking about?"_

_Julian grins at his fiancée and kisses her softly._

"_I told Sam we had settled on a date and then we went into talking about her birthday."_

_Sam taps her fingers against her bedspread._

"_I love parties. Do you want a party Sam?"_

_Sam felt like her world was caving in. She knew she needed help if she was going to survive this._

"_I don't want a party. I don't want anything. I need help."_

"_What do you need help with?" Julian asks confused._

"_I was shot up with drugs against my will. I was abusing drugs before that. I'm sick, dad. I need help."_

_Brooke reaches for Julian's hand._

"_We'll help you Samantha."_

_Sam nods her head._

"_Happy birthday to me."_

**PRESENT**

"My mom died in a car accident or I thought it was. Turns out she had been murdered. I didn't talk about it. I just used drugs to deal with it. I thought I had a handle on it. I really did. But I didn't. I was kidnapped by my mom's murderer. She drugged me up for a couple of days. I knew I was addicted. I got the help I needed. I had a strong support group. I went into a three month treatment program. My best friend Nicole helped me talk about things. It's been a very long and emotionally driven ride, but it got me to this point. I get to stand up and tell everyone of you that it gets better. The cravings will lessen. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Each and every one of you can beat this. You just need to find the will power to do so."

Sam steps away from the podium and takes a seat back on her chair. The man that had spoken in the start of programming stood up and dismissed group. Group members went to refreshments while Sam stayed in her chair. The man takes a seat next to Sam and smiles at her.

"I'm sorry we never got the chance to meet. My name is Brian," the brown haired man stuck out his hand. Sam shook it and smiled.

"Sam, how long have you been running this group?"

"After I got myself clean. Drug free for five years."

"That's a big accomplishment."

"So is the one year."

Sam shrugs her shoulders.

"It had to be done," Sam looks at the clock and grabs her bag. "I've got to start heading home."

"You left us hanging on the date for your dad's wedding."

Sam grins as she pulls her keys out of her pocket.

"They were married six months ago. His wife is expecting now."

**-What's Left of Me-**

"Are you pouting again?" Brooke asks as her husband as she takes a seat next to him on the couch.

"I'm not pouting. I just miss my daughter. I feel like we haven't seen her in a year."

"We haven't much. Sam went into rehab and then she decided to do high school online so she could tell her story to many NA groups. At least she came to the wedding. I thought she wasn't going to make it."

Julian smiles.

"Sam here, but she did. I thought I was going to get married without my best woman."

_**6 Months Ago**_

_Brooke stood in front of the mirror in her wedding dress. Haley and Peyton had left the room so she could have a few moments to herself. The last six months had been rocky for her. She had been glad when she settled on today as the day for her wedding, but she had not heard a word from Sam since she had been traveling around the state. When Sam had told them that she needed help Brooke could have never been more proud then in that moment. Sam had grown up and that just made Brooke smile. However, she was sad that she was going to marry Julian without her there. It wasn't right._

_A knock on the door brought Brooke out of her thoughts._

"_Haley, Peyton, whoever it is. I am fine. There is no need to worry about me."_

_The door opens and Brooke turns around to see Sam smiling at her and in the dress that Brooke had designed for her._

"_I heard there was a wedding today."_

_Brooke rushes forward and gathers Sam into her arms._

"_I missed you Sammy."_

_Sam wraps her arms tighter around Brooke._

"_I missed you too, but there was no way I was going to miss this wedding. Not many kids get to see that."_

_Brooke pulls away from Sam with a smile._

"_You look good," Brooke comments._

"_I am good. Now how about you? Are you ready?"_

_Brooke nods her head with a smile._

"_I'm ready for this. He's my world."_

"_I'm glad. I'm just going to pop in and see him before the ceremony starts, but after I can fill you guys in on what's going on."_

_Sam quickly leaves Brooke's room to head to her father's. The ceremony was going to start shortly and she needed to see her father before that happened. He still had no idea she was here._

_Sam walks into the room and sees her father pacing; something he did when he couldn't sit still._

"_No need to be nervous. You're getting married today."_

_Julian's head snaps up and he smiles widely._

"_I thought you were going to miss this."_

_Sam hugs her father before shaking her head._

"_Not a chance. You're my father. I wasn't going to miss this."_

**PRESENT**

Julian turns his head to stare at his wife. Brooke Davis _now _Baker was his wife. He had found his soul mate and now she was pregnant with his second child. The only thing that would make this moment even better was if his daughter showed up.

"I loved our wedding," Brooke comments. "It was traditional, yes, but our family was there and that was what was important. Sam was there. Now we are pregnant and expecting a baby. Before I met you I never saw myself here. I couldn't let myself see me here because my heart would break, but now I'm not afraid to see the future as long as you're by my side through it all."

Julian grabs Brooke's hand and places his other hand on Brooke's stomach.

"I'm here for you. I'm your husband Brooke Baker and we won't be afraid to see the future we want. This baby is living proof of that. We both wanted kids and then one night during our honeymoon it happened. We've got this. We can handle this."

Brooke leans forward and places her lips against her husband's. Julian was right, they did have this. They could do this and with Sam coming home, they were going to do just that. Handle it. Handle everything that life through at them. No matter what.

* * *

**A/N: In my mind this is where I say the end of the story. Now I don't know where everyone else's head is at, but I wouldn't be opposed to writing an Epilogue of sorts answering all of your questions about what's going to happen to all these characters. Or if you wanted to see something resolved that we never got to see let me know and I will write an epilogue, otherwise this is the end.**


End file.
